Caribbean Paradise: A Host Club Cruise
by blindedbyheadlights
Summary: Tamaki invites Aria to visit the Host Club and she, but by chance or fate, gets picked to go on a two week private cruise in the Caribbean with the Host Club! What a hell of a first day! While on the cruise, two particular boys take quite the interest in her...and they begin to learn about her secrets and her past. Never was she expecting this trip to turn out this way.
1. First Day

**Author's note: Under reconstruction and by reconstruction, I just mean I have edited some stuff in the chapters and what not. And will be cutting out or shortening any author's notes. Enjoy! Oh, to avoid any confusion Ouran's school schedule is like that of the US with six periods for each class, I would have rewritten that to match Japanese schools but I was too lazy**

**Chapter One: First Day**

Awkward…

She stood there in front of her first period class, advanced placement chemistry, waiting for the teacher to acknowledge her while the entire class stared as well, waiting.

This was Aria's very first class on her very first day at the prestigious school, Ouran Academy. She had worked hard just to ace the entrance exams and to join on the scholarship program, something only two other students were doing, some person named Haruhi Fujioka, and Aria's own brother, Domenico. However, Domenico, or as she called him just Dom, was attending Ouran University on the scholarship, not high school.

But that wasn't even any of her concern at the moment. Her biggest matter was to get the attention of her teacher, who was oblivious to the fact that Aria was standing at the door. She was still unsure of Japanese custom so she didn't want to be rude…but her teacher, she forgot his name, was busy writing away on the Smart Board.

Aria had cleared her throat twice already but the elderly teacher hadn't heard her and she wasn't quite sure what she should do now.

"Kiyomizu sensei!" called a male's voice abruptly in the body of students. The teacher turned around and gave an exasperated look. Aria was a little confused as to why he was already so aggravated; she assumed it had something to do with that guy that basically just screamed at him.

"Yes, Tamaki-san…?" he said, eyebrow raised.

Aria looked over to find a very handsome blonde with deep blue eyes, with a strange hue of purple, smiling up at the teacher. "You have a guest…" he said, now turning his dashing gaze at her while gracefully gesturing towards her with his pale hand. Aria noticed all the girls around him all sighed in unison over him.

She wanted to punch this guy. Did he really just shout out at the teacher just to tell him that she was standing there! He had some nerve…

The teacher looked over to his left and saw Aria standing there, looking vaguely uncomfortable. "Oh!" he said, surprised. "I'm sorry. I didn't see you there. You are?"

Aria bowed respectfully before she answered him. "My name is Aria Auditore…" she said, the Japanese language a little strange on her tongue. "I've transferred from the United States as a first year here at Ouran Academy."

At this, the class began to whisper amongst themselves while Aria handed the teacher her transcript of her being in the class.

The hissing continued on while the teacher read through her papers. _Great…now I'm a novelty item, _she thought dryly.

She had hoped she was in the right classroom. The academy was enormous since it encompassed primary school, middle school, high school, and a university.… She wasn't sure just how everyone managed to find their way around the place!

Kiyomizu sensei took his time going through her papers, taking no notice of his ever-growing rowdier classroom. Aria waited patiently when the Tamaki guy, who was waving vehemently at her, caught her attention. She looked at him, raising an eyebrow like her teacher.

Tamaki was pointing to the empty seat next to him, looking excited. Aria had thought that the seat beside him had been filled about a minute before but she couldn't be too sure as he was making overly zealous gestures to see if she understood. He seemed harmless; Tamaki didn't look like he wanted her to sit next to him because he was interested in her romantically…but more of an exceedingly friendly manner.

"Aria Auditore…" said her teacher finally, trying her name on for size and handing back her transcripts. He struggled with it, seeing it was nothing he had been use to and the class took this as a cue to settle down into quieter hissing. "Well, welcome to your first advanced placement chemistry class-"

One of the hands of the students shot up and it made Kiyomizu sensei grind to an abrupt halt. The girl was staring at Aria with bright eyes. _"Yes, _Kimi-san?" said the teacher, now sounding even more irritated.

Kimi put her hand down and stared at Aria. "I heard you aced the entrance exams!" she said with a smile. "Is it true that you're transferring from the United States as an Honors Student? I also heard you're really from Italy!"

Aria raised an eyebrow. She was just a tad bit creeped out that she knew that. The whole class looked at her expectantly.

"Uh…" she began lamely. "Yeah…I was born in Italy and lived there until I was six. Then I moved to the US. And yes…I did really well on the entrance exam so they placed me as an Honors Student under a scholarship program. Normally, they only offer one person a year the scholarship…but they let me because I did well on it."

Aria thought back on the days where she spent countless hours studying to pass this exam, having had to study Japanese simultaneously so she could translate everything. At that time, she had very few friends, and that being said…she wasn't very close to them.

She wasn't sure why she was explaining how she came to the school to these avid teenagers so she turned to her teacher before anyone else could question her. "Kiyomizu sensei…" she said in a reverential tone, "may I sit now?"

"Of course…" he said, also looking relieved. Aria glanced to see if there happened to be any open seats closer to her than the one that the Tamaki guy was begging her with his eyes to sit in. There wasn't. She sighed quietly to herself and took a seat on his right.

Kiyomizu sensei promptly went back to lecturing about the Periodic Table of Elements. Aria took out her notebook and diligently took notes, ignoring the feeling that the entire room was watching her intently as if she was going to burst out into song or something.

After about fifteen minutes of class, Tamaki placed a note on her desk. _You can't be serious…_Aria thought, staring at the folded piece of paper next to her left hand. Their teacher was going through a slideshow, his back turned to his class.

Aria glanced over at Tamaki; he was grinning at her with possibly the goofiest smile she had ever come across. He looked as if he really wanted her to read it.

She opened the note. _Hi! I'm Tamaki Suoh! It's nice to meet you, Auditore-san. I'm really impressed! You're in a second year class when you're just a first year._

Aria figured he was older…not by the way he acted because he certainly came off childish in some aspects. He seemed nice though and she didn't want to blow him off by not replying back, even though listening to Kiyomizu sensei was much more important.

_It's nice to meet you, Suoh-senpai. Thank you for getting sensei's attention. It was pretty awkward just standing there like that. _

She slid the folded note back to Tamaki when the teacher wasn't looking. Tamaki looked like he was a kid at Christmas and received what he had wanted for ages.

_It's no problem! ^_^ Oh! And you can spare the formalities with me, Aria-chan. Just call me Tamaki!_

Aria wanted to laugh. He certainly was audacious; if wasn't for the fact that she didn't care that he called her by her first name, he would have insulted her. She had studied Japanese culture and to assume that you can just say someone's name in a familiar way after just meeting them, was considered to be extremely rude. But Aria wasn't at all Japanese, so she didn't mind.

However, she didn't think he was full Japanese to begin with anyways. He had really blonde hair and looked much more European than Japanese.

Even though he said to just refer to him as Tamaki, she felt she had to respect her superior and decided that she'd call him Tamaki-senpai.

_You can drop the –chan. I don't think it suits my name since it's not Japanese_¸ was the reply she gave back on the note.

Throughout the next hour of class, Tamaki and Aria passed notes back in forth. Aria noticed the envious looks on some of the girl's faces in the class but she paid no attention to it.

She came to the conclusion rather quickly that Tamaki was a genuinely good person with some strange personality traits. He was theatrical and loud, even in writing, optimistic, extremely weird, kind…and supercilious but not in a condescending way where he made Aria feel incompetent about her lower fiscal status. Because Tamaki was wealthy, she figured he didn't really understand that he was incredibly conceited about his looks and money. Even so, Aria liked him; he was certainly entertaining…and they were only passing notes back and forth. She hadn't even formally held a real conversation with him.

_What's your homeroom, Aria? Do you need help finding it? ^_^_

Aria looked at her transcript, which was with her at all times so she could memorize her schedule quickly, and looked at second period's class. _Here, just look at it. I'll be able to find it…no worries_, she wrote while passing her transcript to Tamaki.

That was her pride speaking. Aria, in fact, had no clue where her homeroom was, even though she had a map of the school, and she knew she would get lost but she didn't want to seem as though she was an idiot.

Tamaki passed the note and her transcript back, and he looked as though he was envious of something…but in a sad sort of envious way. His eyes were glistening.

When she looked at the note, she did a silent scream. He wrote a novel! How did he write that so fast? And why does his writing have hearts and little drawings everywhere on it?

_You're in homeroom with my Haruhi! He's really quite the charming one and in my Host Club. And not only that, you're also in class with two of my other Host Members, Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin! They're twins. I think you'll like them all. I'm not sure, but I think you're also in Conversational French with the three of them, if I'm not mistaken. Plus, I think that Hikaru and Kaoru are in your World Literature class. You'll be best of friends! But you should be best of friends with Haruhi. He overworks himself and he is an Honors Student too, Aria. You should _definitely _become best friends with Haruhi. But that's just your Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule. On your Tuesday and Thursday schedule, you and I have calculus together! Isn't that great? We're going to have so much fun! And Kyoya is that class. You and Kyoya have classes all day together on Tuesdays and Thursdays! Both of you are in AP anatomy and AP physics. Kyoya is my best friend in the whole world. Maybe you'll like him. I like him. But wow…you're in classes that are really advanced but you're in your first year. You must be as smart as Kyoya and Haruhi!_

There was a lot more that he wrote but it basically stated how much he adored Haruhi. Aria could only assume that this was the same Haruhi Fujioka that she had heard about. Tamaki also was blathering on about his Host Club, whatever that was…. Aria was too afraid to ask what it was, fearing he'd write an entire trilogy about it.

_I'm not sure…what to write…haha, _she wrote on an entirely new piece of paper; this was their fourth one already.

Tamaki was smiling to himself as he wrote. He passed back the note as the sounding bell for first period to end was heard overhead.

"That was fun!" he exclaimed, rising to a stand as the rest of the class did. "I'll see you at 3:30, okay?"

"What?" Aria asked, confused at what was at 3:30. School was done by that time.

But before she could ask, he was leaving. "Oh!" he said, remembering something. "Say hi to Haruhi and the Hitachiin twins for me! And remember, bring that note!"

And he was gone.

Aria was utterly confused. What the heck was Tamaki talking about? It obviously had something to do with the note so she decided she would read it when she was in homeroom.

She found the room just in time, thankfully. It was a little noisy with all the kids talking and what not and Aria was hoping she wouldn't have to introduce herself again like in chemistry.

But…she thought too soon.

"Hey! Look! It's the transfer student!" said two identical voices. She froze in the doorway and again, all eyes were on her.

Aria looked over and found the twins that Tamaki had been speaking of were looking back at her.

She never was one to care for appearances or boys for that matter, but these Hitachiin twins were very good looking, much like Tamaki, but in different ways. They parted their hair in opposite directions, so hopefully, Aria would be able to tell who was who soon enough. The twins had light brown hair that they spiked up and golden eyes that twinkled with mischief. They were about a third of a head taller than her and she could tell that they were on the leaner side in physique.

They sauntered over to her and both put out a hand to her.

"Welcome to class 1A's homeroom," they said in perfect unison that creeped Aria out. She didn't make to grip either of their hands but they beat her to it by taking hers. Both placed their lips on both her hands. More than anything, she felt uncomfortable more than flattered.

Were all of Ouran's male students this weird!

"I think you guys are just freaking her out," said a voice behind them. Aria looked through the gap between the twins and there was a brunette boy looking a little irritated with the pair of them.

"Don't mind them," he said, smacking them both upside the heads. "They're harmless."

"You must be…Haruhi Fujioka-san, right?" said Aria, not looking at the twins, who were rubbing the backs of their heads tenderly. She bowed politely at him and Haruhi smiled gently.

He looked like an extremely feminine boy. He had short, dark brown hair, these big, innocent chocolate eyes, and was just a tad shorter than Aria. He was pretty…in a girly way, not a pretty _boy _way. Then again, Aria was aware of the culture of the Japanese and how many an anime portrayed woman as boys or vice versa; she didn't see how that managed to happen because to her, it was very easily discernible who was female and who was male.

Or so she thought.

"That's me," Haruhi said, in a voice also much more feminine then manly. Aria just waved it off though. "Pleasure to meet you."

Haruhi turned to the twins. "These two idiots are-"

"Hikaru!" said the twin on the right, whose hair was parted to the right.

"And Kaoru," said the twin on the left, whose hair was parted to the left.

"-Hitachiin," finished Haruhi with a roll of his eyes just as the bell rang. "Or you can just say the Hitachiin Twins."

Now that Aria had heard them speak individually, it actually wasn't that hard to tell them apart. Hikaru's voice was slightly deeper with an almost raspy tone to it while Kaoru's voice was more innocent, and playful; the hair directions also helped out Aria immensely.

"Class rep!" shouted the twins abruptly, turning to the front of the class. Aria could only assume they were referring to the guy with the glasses and the untidy hair standing behind the podium.

"Yes?"

The twins jumped around to behind Aria and pushed her towards the front of the classroom. "Make her introduce herself!" they exclaimed, giving one last shove at her back.

Aria stumbled forward, feeling a bubbling irritation growing in her chest. The class rep sighed briefly. "I guess…" he said, waiting for the class to sit down. "Homeroom class 1A, we have a new transfer student joining our class as of today. I do ask we make her feel welcome."

Then he turned to Aria, who was a little irked that she had to introduce herself_ again, _thanks to the Hitachiin twins. "Care to introduce yourself?" he asked, sounding a bit bored.

She huffed quietly before she let her emerald green eyes scan the room. It was like déjà vu as she looked at the teenagers all staring up at her like she was a freak show.

Aria bowed slightly to them all. "Uh…" she started. Why did she always start out her introductions like she was unintelligent? "Hi, I'm Aria Auditore. Like he said, I'm transferring into Ouran as a first year in high school. I'm from the United States, but I was born and lived in Italy until I was six-"

"Rumor has it you only missed one question on the entrance exam!" cut in the Hitachiin twins. Aria saw Haruhi's interest perk up at the comment.

"Yeah, that rumor is in fact, _false_…I missed two," said Aria, sweeping her long, black hair from her shoulders. "I'm here on the scholarship program as an Honors Student, like Fujioka-san."

At this, the twins glanced at each other with crafty smiles but Aria didn't notice because some boy in the front of the class asked if she was single.

She was in shock. Did this guy _really _just ask that!

"Hey, don't ask Auditore-san questions like that!" snapped Kaoru, both twins hovering over the boy with dark expressions.

Hikaru agreed. "She only just transferred today and you're already trying to make passes at her! Despicable!"

Aria stared as the boy cowered at them. Was this how they always behaved? "Uhm, guys…" she attempted to say, putting up a hand to stop them. "It's okay, really…"

The twins didn't apparently hear her and didn't stop berating the poor guy until Haruhi punched both twins in the back of the heads. "Cut it out!" Haruhi shouted.

After another few minutes of the shouting, which also now involved the class rep, Aria was finally allowed to sit down. She took a seat next to Haruhi, who had moved to the back of the class, away from the Hitachiin twins.

"Thanks for that…" said Aria gratefully. "Are they always so temperamental?"

Haruhi sort of chuckled. "No," he replied. "But they're always very unpredictable. Let's just say that they're a bit of troublemakers."

Aria rolled her eyes before they landed on the twins staring back at her and Haruhi with sad expressions, like they had been abandoned. "Umm…?"

"Just ignore them. They'll come back here within the next five minutes," said Haruhi, pulling out his homework. "Trust me."

Aria shrugged and pulled out Tamaki's note that she had been trying to read since she got into the classroom.

_You should visit the Host Club today! We're having a special event so you don't want to miss it. It starts at 3:30 in Music Room #3. I think you'll like it. In fact, I think you and I will get along so well, that I will let you in for free for your first day! Just show this paper to Kyoya and he will let you in. Hopefully, he won't give you a hard time. See you at 3:30!_

She had no idea what the heck a host club was. She had never heard of something like that in the US or in Italy. At the bottom of the note, it said, _Kyoya! Let this lovely lady have her first day free of charge at the Host Club! Love Daddy!_

"Daddy…?" said Aria under her breath, utterly confused.

The paper flew out of her hand suddenly and she found herself staring up at the twins, both reading it. As they neared the end, they're faces formed into those of intense mischief.

"You've met the boss?" asked Hikaru, Kaoru's head resting on his twin's left shoulder. Haruhi pulled his attention away from his work and looked over at the three of them.

"Who, Tamaki-senpai?" asked Aria.

"Yeah, he's the President of the Host Club we're in," said Kaoru.

"He and I have AP chemistry together," she replied. "What the heck is he even talking about anyway? He invited me to the Host Club but-"

"Tamaki-senpai invited you?" said Haruhi beside her.

Aria turned to him. "Yeah. Something about free of charge and whatever nonsense. He was really excited, to say the least. Oh, right he told me to tell you three hi."

"If you want to keep your sanity," said Haruhi, turning to his homework again, _"don't come."_

"Aww, Haruhi!" whined the twins in unison, now on either side of his shoulders.

"You don't _really_ hate the Host Club, do you?" said Hikaru.

Haruhi laughed darkly. "Yeah, I do," he muttered.

"But you're such a good host!" said Kaoru aghast. "Don't you like hanging out with us?"

There was a pause in the scratching of the pen Haruhi was using. "Yes, guys…" he said with a heavy sigh as if in defeat. "I do enjoy spending time with all of you."

The twins jumped for joy.

Aria was thoughtful. The way the twins acted around Haruhi was not really a male/male friendship. Aria quickly came up with two theories. One: Haruhi was gay because he was so feminine or two: Haruhi was so feminine because he was actually a _she. _Aria couldn't be sure which one would be true. She'd have to let it all play out.

As it turned out, Aria had Honors Conversational French with the three Host members as well. The twins had taking a liking to Aria, like Tamaki had. Haruhi did as well, but wasn't overly joyful with new company like the others, which Aria was grateful for.

Aria had been forced into introductions yet again for her French class. And like before, she easily enamored the class. She was never one of the popular kids back in school at the US. She usually kept to herself, doing her own thing and only had a few close friends. Why was it that the Japanese were so fascinated with her?

"Because you're a commoner who made her way into a wealthy man's territory…" said Haruhi flatly at lunch. Aria couldn't help but frown at the gender specifics but did not voice it.

The twins and Haruhi offered to eat lunch with her since Aria had no one else to eat with. They sat in the dining hall, Aria with her plate from the kitchen (being on the scholarship program as a transfer student from another country had major benefits. Not only does it cover Aria and her brother, Dom's schooling and gives them free meals at the school, but the scholarship program also let the two Auditore siblings stay in a house on an Ouran Academy housing tract. The scholarship program also pays for everything the house has. The house was already furnished and the school sends bi-weekly checks for the Auditore siblings for food and pays for the utilities of the house).

Aria figured that Haruhi would understand. He was a "commoner" as well.

"And because you're transferring in as an Honor Student," added Hikaru, eyeballing Haruhi's bento lunch.

"From another country and culture entirely," finished Kaoru, smiling at Aria.

She growled underneath her breath. "Joy…" she said sarcastically, staring at the food in front of her. Aria had no idea what any of it was, it all was extremely fancy stuff that she had never heard of before. Kaoru had come to her rescue and ordered something for her.

He noticed her unsure gaze at her food. "This is duck," he said, pointing at a piece of meat all decorated with sauces and other food before he pointed at the china bowl. "And that is the soup of the day. Broccoli and cheddar."

Kaoru indicated the other items on her tray but she didn't hear anything after the broccoli and cheddar. So, she started to eat it and it was the most delicious broccoli and cheddar she had ever tasted.

During lunch, she found she had her last class of the day, Honors World Literature, with the twins. She just couldn't get away from them!

Not they were bad company, but they did like to artfully pick on her with side comments and teasing. Their relationship very quickly evolved from Aria feeling unsure of how to interact with them, to her having no problems with playful banter. Usually after they would pick on her, usually about how foreign she was, Aria would just jab back but it never deterred them. She also forced them to stop calling her Aria-chan because she couldn't stand the way it sounded. Haruhi still called her by her last name but at least he didn't say it with an honorific at the end of it.

After lunch and when they said good-bye to Haruhi, the twins and Aria walked off towards their world literature class. "So, the boss wants you to come to the Host Club?" said the twins in their creepy perfect unity.

"Yeah…after school gets out," explained Aria, adjusting the stupid bow on her uniform. She was _not _a fan of the Ouran's uniform for the girls. She felt like a giant yellow mushroom! The uniform was heavy and way too girly for her taste. Aria was much more comfortable in a t-shirt and jeans.

"You have to come!" said Hikaru, grinning almost evilly at her.

Kaoru also had the same look. "We'll drag you there ourselves if you don't!"

Aria raised an eyebrow, not the least bit intimidated by their claim. "I was already planning on going, since I apparently don't have to pay anything so chill out, guys. Tamaki-senpai said there was some special event or something going on."

Her comment only made the smirks on their faces grow wider. "Oh yeah…" they said…and they looked like they were planning something.

"Well, that's not at _all _suspicious," said Aria with a chuckle as they walked into their class. The twins didn't reply but made Aria sit in a seat between them. Thankfully, they were so wrapped up in their plans (they were texting each other) that they didn't make Aria introduce herself to the class, even though Harada sensei looked as if she might have wanted to have Aria present herself to the class.

As she took notes on the lecture, she wondered what the Host Club was…and what the "special event" entailed. She was really quite curious. The twins seemed excited and Tamaki was thrilled to invite her.

She would just have to wait and see when class was out.


	2. Winner

**Author's Note: if anyone is fluent in Spanish or Italian, I apologize if anything isn't correct. I used Google Translate. thanks! **

**Chapter Two: Winner**

"Hurry up, Aria!" whined the twins as she packed up her stuff from her world literature class. The twins looked extremely impatient.

"I can just meet you there, you know," she replied, putting her laptop into her bag (a gift from the school board for her test scores). She was already finished putting her stuff away but…the twins didn't notice.

They snorted. "That would be pointless," said Hikaru.

"Because we're all going to the same place," finished Kaoru. "So we may as well wait for you."

"So hurry up!" they exclaimed.

Aria laughed to herself. "Well, quit with the chit chat then, and let's go…" she said, slinging her bag over her shoulder. She threw a smirk at them and walked out of the class.

She had never really seen anyone quite as excited as she had seen Tamaki and the Hitachiin twins about this Host Club. However, she also noticed Haruhi's discontent at the mention of the Host Club; Aria wondered what would make him have that kind of displeasure towards it.

Apparently, Aria was walking too slowly. Therefore, the twins took this as their cue to start dragging her along at a faster pace.

"Guys!" she snapped, both holding her hands and pulling her; she was jogging just to keep up with their long legs.

"We want you to meet everyone-" said Kaoru.

"Before we open for business!" finished Hikaru.

They rounded a corner and they came upon Haruhi coming up the stairs. When he saw the twins and Aria, he frowned.

"They forced you?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Sort of. I was going to come anyway…but they hauled me over here themselves," she replied.

They all stopped at Music Room 3. The French doors were enormous as they entered.

"Haruhi!" cried Tamaki's very familiar voice in a enthusiastic manner. Haruhi sighed heavily before Tamaki pranced over to him. Aria took this moment to look around and found three other boys in this giant room full of plush chairs and chaises. There were many tables with roses as far as Aria could see.

_Holy hell…_she thought. This room dripped with wealth and it made her uncomfortable. She felt like if she breathed too forcefully, the windows would smash or something along those lines. Everything seemingly felt delicate and fragile and that in itself did not help Aria feel at home.

This school was way too extravagant as far as she was concerned.

…_but with the kind of people who go here…I'm not surprised, _she mused.

Tamaki, after incessantly badgering Haruhi for over four minutes, finally noticed Aria with the twins. "Aria!" he exclaimed. "You made it. You're early though…"

"The twins," she said flatly. The twins both had an elbow resting on her shoulders and were grinning. Tamaki looked at the Hitachiin twins with a semi-dark look.

"You shady twins haven't been bothering our first time guest, have you?" he asked. "She has been invited by yours truly so I don't want her getting the wrong impression from you two…"

"Like you have room to talk, boss…" they replied in unison.

Aria put up a hand to stop them. "They've been…nice. Don't worry," she replied. She wasn't sure if nice was really the term was she looking for. She guessed "tolerable" would have been more suitable but she decided she would be kind to them.

"Well," said Tamaki, casting what looked like a warning look at the twins before taking Aria away from them by her hand; the twins did not look very pleased about her leaving them, "I'd like to introduce you to the rest of the Host Club."

"Uh…" she said, as he led her towards a really tall guy with a little boy. "Okay?"

The little blonde boy dressed in the Ouran high school clothes looked over at them as they made their way over. He looked like he was only about eleven or twelve years old so Aria wondered why he was in the high school uniform and not the primary school's uniform. He was impossibly adorable with those big, pure light brown eyes and his semi-long, curly dirty blonde hair. He was only up to Aria's chest in height.

He was standing with another guy, who was impossibly tall, taller than everyone in the room. He had short black hair that was a bit untidy, and these dark yet strangely soft eyes. He also had tanner skin than all the others, so he must spend time outside. He was very handsome, despite the indifferent look on his face.

"I'd like you to meet Mitsukuni "Honey" Haninozuka," said Tamaki, gesturing to the little boy, "and Takashi "Mori" Morinozuka. They're both in their third year at Ouran."

Aria stared at Mitsukuni. "What!?" she exclaimed. "You're a third-year, Haninozuka-senpai?"

The little blonde didn't look very happy. "Aww, don't call me that! Call me Honey!" he whimpered, clutching his lilac stuffed bunny close to his face.

"Ah!" she said, feeling guilty as his big eyes looked sad. "I'm sorry, Honey-senpai!"

She guessed she was expected to call Takashi by his nickname Mori too. "This is Aria Auditore, our transfer student from the US," said Tamaki after a moment.

"Hi…" said Mori in a low voice. Honey on the other hand, tackled her.

"It's so nice to meet you, Ari-chan!" he said. Aria wanted to tell him not to call her that but he was just so cute that she decided that it was okay with her. Besides, she didn't want him to get upset again.

After a few minutes, Honey playfully demanded that Aria would share cake with him later on in the afternoon and Aria agreed. They talked for another minute…well, Mori didn't say a word and stood there staring down pensively at Aria…before Tamaki whisked her elsewhere in the room.

"And our Vice President, Kyoya Ootori," he said, leading him over to a figure, clacking away on a laptop in a secluded corner of the room. "He is in his second year in my class!"

What's with the Host Club and being incredibly good-looking!

Kyoya was exceptionally handsome with his black hair that was neatly done but with just a tinge of messiness to it. He looked tall, from what Aria could tell but he was sitting so she only had a general idea. When Tamaki and Aria stopped at the table, he flashed his mysteriously dark gray eyes up at them behind thin glasses.

He stood up smoothly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Auditore-san," he said, smiling coolly at her. "Your reputation precedes you."

That caught her off guard. "It does?" she asked, confused. Kyoya chuckled.

Aria remembered her manners and bowed a little deeper than she had all day; something about Kyoya, comparably to everyone else, seemed a little more reverential. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Ootori-senpai…and you can just call me Aria. My name isn't much for honorifics."

He laughed lightly again. "If that's what you wish," he replied in his voice that reminded Aria of silk, "but if I may call you Aria, then you can call me Kyoya."

Before she could say anything back Tamaki butted in again. "Care to know what types we are?" he asked, giving a wink at her. Aria was puzzled by what he meant.

"Huh?"

At that second, Tamaki had gathered the entire Host Club to sit on or around a couch in pose as if there was a photographer to take their picture. Aria stared at them; how did they move so fast?

"In the Host Club, I am the Princely type," said Tamaki with a fancy hand flourish, using his patented dashing grin. He gestured to the other members as he spoke.

"Haruhi is the Natural type, Hikaru and Kaoru are the Little Devil type, Honey-senpai is the Boy-Lolita type, Mori-senpai is the Strong, Silent type, and Kyoya is the Cool type," he explained. "What type interests you, my princess?"

Aria was unsure what he was trying to get across with "types."

"Okay…?" she replied hesitantly, ignoring his question entirely. "What the heck is…a Host Club anyway?"

At this, Tamaki laughed. "_Well_," he began, rising to stand and making his way over to her. He suddenly was holding a rose out as he advanced and she was very confused as to where he so magically pulled that out from. "The Ouran Host club is where the school's handsomest boys, with too much time on their hands, entertain young ladies, who also have way to much time on their hands. Just think of it as Ouran's elegant playground for the super rich and beautiful."

"_Entertain?" _Aria asked darkly, now suddenly not interested in staying. There were multiple reasons as to why; one being this sounded like a very strange reverse harem or similar and two, the way Tamaki explained it made him seem so obliviously arrogant. Without realizing, she backed away from the group with apprehension, not wanting to get mixed up in this at all.

"Not sexually or anything like that," Haruhi said quickly from behind Tamaki. "Thank God…"

Aria really didn't care and was trying to best formulate a plan to leave when the twins converged on her again. "So, who are you going to request first, Aria!" they said, obviously hoping that they'd be requested.

"Uh?" she said, backing away as they kept coming towards her. "To be honest, I think I'm gonna lea-"

At this, Tamaki looked appalled. "You can't leave!" he cried before she could finish out the sentence. "You have only just arrived."

Aria scratched the back of her head in a nervous fashion. "Well, yeah but-"

"I know!" cut in Tamaki. He ran off in a direction of wherever, leaving the group somewhat confused, only to come back a minute later with what looked like top hat with crumpled up paper in it.

Aria eyed it doubtfully. "What is that?" she asked.

"This is how you'll pick a host!" he exclaimed, looking overjoyed with his "ingenuity." "All you do is pick a piece of paper and that's the host you'll be with today."

He shoved the black hat into her face.

Aria glanced around at the others' faces, the twins appearing enthusiastic and Haruhi looking as though he disapproved entirely. She realized that Tamaki was not going to let her off so easily and that there was no way she could back out of the situation without seeming ungrateful. That aside, her curiosity as to what the special event was kept her interest enough to risk getting too involved with the club.

"Fine…" she said in defeat. She put a hand deep into the hat and picked one from the very bottom. The twins looked hopeful as she un-crumbled the paper.

On the paper, in Tamaki's writing, it said _Kyoya._

"It says I got Kyoya-senpai," she said, holding it out to them. The twins' faces fell dramatically, both very upset with the outcome.

Tamaki, however, looked pleased. "Oh good, Kyoya doesn't entertain many ladies because he likes to sit and play games on his laptop," he said, oblivious at the jab he just made at his VP.

"Or just manage your Host Club, Tamaki…" Kyoya replied with a serene smile, already back at his laptop and typing away. "But I see no problem with entertaining Aria for the day. If she is okay with that…"

He paused in his typing to look up at her. Aria averted her eyes away. "Yeah, that's fine…I guess."

It was not that she was embarrassed or otherwise feeling awkward. She was just unsure about idea of a Host Club as a whole, especially with all the different personalities that were in one room. Tamaki's over zealous attitude was enough to make Aria exhausted and the twins constantly picking on her and teasing did not alleviate that. Haruhi was nice enough and Honey was too freaking adorable for Aria to get annoyed with. Mori seemed like he just was the observing type…she didn't know what kind of relationship he had with Honey but they seemed attached at the hip. And then Kyoya was incredibly nice, in a nonchalant sort of manner but Aria had the feeling he could be a bit of jerk.

And did the school really let something like this go on unchecked? It seemed like there were no adults to tell them off about having a club to entertain girls…. What was the world coming to?

But…just because she didn't like it …didn't mean she wasn't a little curious.

Aria sat rather uneasily in her chair at a small table, watching the other hosts go about their business. She was amazed at how many girls had turned up and Aria realized that the Host Club was much more popular than she previously guessed.

It was clear that Tamaki was "the king" of the club. He was hosting about five girls at the moment, who all didn't seem to mind sharing their idol.

Mori and Honey were with four girls themselves, two of them fawning over how incredibly cute Honey was and feeding him cake while the other remaining girls were staring avidly at Mori. And that's all they really did…stare because it wasn't like Mori said anything.

_How awkward…_Aria thought, moving on to Haruhi. Three girls were with him and they were just talking. She had no idea about what, seeing that they were across the room and it was too full of chatter to hear them. Aria, however, did see Haruhi flash the girls a very genuine smile and the girls basically turned to jelly.

Aria rolled her eyes.

The twins were very close to her table. They were hosting only two girls, also talking. Aria listened in, wondering as to what the "Little Devil" meant.

"-and then the scariest part of the movie came on, you know the part where the girl slit's her own throat?" Hikaru was saying. The girls gasped, all rapt in his story. "Well, Kaoru was so frightened that night that he crawled into my bed to sleep with me."

"Hikaru!" said Kaoru, looking embarrassed and hurt. "Don't tell them that. I asked you not to…"

At this, Hikaru stood up and lifted Kaoru's face up to his. "I'm so sorry, Kaoru," he whispered, their faces way too close for brothers to be. "I only shared the story with them because I wanted them to know how adorable you looked. You were so scared, cowering into my chest and clutching me close to your unclothed body."

_WHAT!_

Aria was officially grossed out as the two girls squealed in delight about their "brotherly love."

"Oh, Hikaru…let me stay in your bed tonight. I don't want to be alone…" said Kaoru in soft voice, closing his eyes. They looked like they were going to kiss.

"I wasn't going to let you sleep anywhere else, Kaoru…" Hikaru said, also closing his eyes. The girls squealed again.

Aria felt like she just watched herself die.

"Don't worry…" said Kyoya, causing Aria to jump because she was so wrapped up in her disgust of the twins. Kyoya placed a teacup in front of her and gave himself one as well. He had gone to get them tea. "That's just their act for the Host Club."

Aria stared at Kyoya, who looked unconcerned. "I'm scarred for life…" she choked out. He smiled slightly as he poured hot water into each of their cups. Upon the silver platter he had brought was an assortment of teas for her to choose and he picked an earl grey sachet for himself. After another moment, he sat down across from her and threw her a piercing gaze.

"Don't be…they don't keep up the act during school hours," he replied gently. He reached for his tea and sipped delicately, never once taking his eyes off her.

Aria grimaced. She wasn't use to undivided attention from someone who was so good-looking and so nice. "So…" she began, feeling awkward. She reached for a random sachet to place into her tea, unconcerned with whatever she chose.

She thought she heard him chuckle. "It is my understanding that you and I will be sharing classes all day long tomorrow and Thursday," he said to start a conversation on her behalf. "That should be interesting."

Aria felt herself smile. "Who told you that?" she asked.

"No one," he replied with no shame, leaning back in the chair. "I research all first time guests."

"_That's _not weird…" she said sarcastically, though in a more playful manner. "So, since you had the time to research me…what else did you discover?"

At this, Kyoya eyed her thoughtfully. "I've learned," he began with his silky voice, "you were born in Prato, Italy but lived in Florence until you were six years old. You moved to New York City of the United States because of a needed promotion your father was offered. You have an older brother by the name of Domenico and a younger sister, named Oriana. You worked very hard throughout middle school to prepare for the entrance exam for Ouran Academy, including learning how to speak Japanese and studied our culture. Speaking of languages you know, it has become your hobby to learn foreign languages. You're fluent in Italian, English, Japanese, Spanish, and are beginning to learn French. Also, you are not poor by most means, however, you are not remotely close to being able to afford to go to school here, so therefore you aced the exams and were able to attend Ouran, alongside your elder brother, through a scholarship program.

"You are known to be rather stubborn and sarcastic. You usually kept to yourself in middle school, even though you caught the eye of many young boys in your school. However, your desire to get into Ouran Academy kept you focused, and you graduated at the top of your class. You're not shy but you don't have much to say unless you feel it's needed. You were never much of a girl because you preferred to be comfortable. You hate people who act fake and those that lie.

"You don't like ketchup, popcorn, or beans. Your favorite color is blood red, your favorite animal is a panther, and your hobbies include photography, video games, learning new languages, and volleyball in which you play on a club team for spring and summer."

Aria stared blankly at him. He knew a lot of basic facts about her and though it was _extremely _creepy, she wasn't all that angry. Although, she noted that he missed a key point in her past during middle school, one she was not willing to revisit with someone she hardly knew.

"Questo ragazzo ha troppo tempo sulle sue mani _(this guy has way too much time on his hands)_," she muttered under her breath and in Italian so that he could not understand her.

She saw him smile at her and she wasn't sure as to why he was making such a gesture. "Naturalmente, non posso concludere senza ricordare la vostra naturale bellezza (_Of course, I cannot finish without mentioning your natural beauty_)," Kyoya said, his voice smooth and his eyes narrowing almost triumphantly. Aria's heart skipped a few beats at what he said.

Aria recovered quickly. "Io non sono impressionato _(I am not impressed)_," she snapped.

She was _not_ about to get swept off her feet like the rest of the idiotic girls in here just because this guy could speak Italian…and happened to be extremely good looking…and charming…and incredibly wealthy. Aria wouldn't let herself become the rest of these giggling girls that surrounded her just because he could dish out compliments dressed in fancy vocabulary. Aria hated rich people!

Especially because she knew everything the hosts did while in the Host Club were all just acts. She figured that the _real _Kyoya was a bit of a heartless jerk…. She felt a little bad for thinking that but she did pride herself in being a good judge of a person…and she could just tell that Kyoya didn't _always _have this alluring old-age charm. People aren't perfect…Kyoya was no different.

He never lost that distant smile of his though and it pissed Aria off. She wondered if he forced it or not.

Kyoya leaned forward and gazed directly into her green eyes with his gray ones. "Illuminarmi _(Enlighten me)_," he said, seeing this as a challenge. "Cosa posso fare per impressionare voi (_What can I do to impress you)_?"

"It takes more than good looks, wealth, and a fluent tongue to impress _me_, Kyoya-senpai," she replied, a smirk on her lips. She spoke in Japanese again. Kyoya eyed her for a moment, no trace of a smile on his face, forced or otherwise. He looked like he was trying to figure something out about her or as if he was debating something in his own mind. Aria couldn't be sure if it was the former or the latter. Whatever he was doing, the expression was starting to make her uncomfortable.

After another moment of them staring each other down, he leaned back. "You are an intriguing young woman, Aria," he said, sipping on his tea again. "I look forward to continuing hosting you."

She scoffed. "I do _not _plan on-"

"Having fun?" exclaimed Tamaki loudly, cutting Aria off. He turned to her with his goofy smile. "Isn't Kyoya just the debonair type?"

Tamaki seemed proud of his host….

"Sure…" said Aria, still not impressed, before dropping into a low voice. "Aunque sepa que esto es todo un acto (_Even though I know this is all an act)."_

Kyoya laughed. "¿Quieres decir que no estás disfrutando? _(Are you implying that you are not enjoying yourself?)_" he replied, smirking at her.

This time, she thought her heart might have stopped all together. She already knew that he would have been fluent in English, seeing that Japanese students are expected to learn it but she had been caught off guard by his knowledge of Italian…but him know Spanish on top of it!? This guy was unreal!

"No le gusta _(I do not like you)_," she growled, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Lo dudo _(I doubt that)_," he replied with his light laugh. "Sospecho que tienes miedo de admitir que me encuentras atractivo _(I suspect you are afraid to admit that you find me attractive.)_

"I'm still not impressed!" she spat, more to convince herself than to say it to him. If she was honest with herself, she was actually a bit daunted by his knowledge of foreign languages, general appearance, and seemingly flawless manners. However, it was also clear that Kyoya Ootori was incredibly conceited, if not proud in his ability to catch women off guard with his "charm."

Tamaki, who was still standing there, had really no clue what was happening, seeing he did not understand Spanish. However, he smiled and clapped his hands together, glancing back and forth between the pair.

"Well, if you two are finished flirting-"

"We are not flirting-!" Aria objected, snapping an insulted gaze at the president.

"-we have the announcement to make! Kyoya, care to join me?" Tamaki finished.

Kyoya stood up. "Excuse me, Aria. I must attend to this," he said indifferently, not giving a backwards glance as he left with Tamaki.

Aria crossed her arms immediately after they left, seething. Kyoya was just too…_perfect! _She was already sure that she would not be fond of him in the slightest, not if he continued to behave so pretentiously.

However, in another line of thought, she wondered if this announcement had anything to do with the special event. Maybe it _was _the special event. She hoped it was, because she was eager to get out of there.

As she looked around, she realized that the hosts had all gathered in a corner of the room, leaving their guests to talk amongst themselves. Aria was alone and she was actually quite grateful for this because judging by the general type of girls there, she wasn't keen on small talk with them, especially since it would pertain to the Host Club members no doubt.

"Ladies!" called Tamaki after another few minutes, turning to all the women in the room. The girls dropped their conversations instantly at his voice. He paused…and Aria assumed it was for dramatic play.

"We are ready to draw a winner," he said in alluring voice.

Aria scoffed to herself. _Did he really have to say it like that?_

At this, the ladies all burst out with excitement, except for Aria because she had no idea what he was talking about. She was hoping someone would elaborate but she could not discern anything of real value in the sudden surge of chatter.

"As you all know, we announced that the Host Club will be going on a two week private cruise, touring the Caribbean," stated Kyoya as if on cue once the girls died down again. "We also revealed that we would be taking one lucky lady on this cruise to join us, all expenses paid, provided she had a passport."

Another uproar from the girls. Aria, however, was a little irritated that she stayed…for a raffle, even if the prize was astounding. The likelihood of her winning was slim to none and she certainly had no desire to win anyways.

"We have taken all the names down of today's guests and placed them into this hat!" said Tamaki proudly, pulling out that stupid top hat he used on her earlier. "And now to pick our winner."

Tamaki stirred up the bits of paper in the hat for a few moments. "Haruhi, care to do the honors?" said Kyoya. Haruhi looked as if he didn't care but put a hand into the hat and pulled out a small piece of paper.

Aria could feel the girls all take a collective breath, the tension almost too much for her to handle. She glanced around at the other girls, all staring avidly, some clutching one another, others crossing their fingers, and still others displaying other various signs of apprehension as Haruhi handed the paper to Tamaki and backed up again to stand near the twins.

The Hitachiin twins caught her eye with mischievous grins at each other. They looked like they might have done something to cause trouble. Aria shook her head and returned her attention to Tamaki, who was unfolding the paper at a slow pace to keep the anticipation growing. However, he was over-exaggerating it and the girls were about to explode with eagerness.

Once opened, her held it out at half an arm's length. He was silent, blinking at the name.

After a moment, he lifted his gaze to the room. "Aria Auditore."

And every set of eyes were on her as she sat frozen her seat, astonished that her name just came from that hat. She hoped she was going delusional.

Did she really just win a cruise trip with the Ouran Host Club?


	3. A Mask

**Chapter Three: A Mask**

Aria could feel the envy, the jealousy, and in some cases, pure yet discrete rage that emanated from some of the girls as they left the Host Club for the day. Aria stayed behind, by request of Kyoya to discuss her prize in full with her.

When the last girl left and the doors were closed, she rounded on the twins. "What did you do?" she hissed, grabbing both of them by the collars of their uniform and pulling them towards her face.

The hosts were talking amongst themselves, minus Kyoya, who was in his little corner on his laptop. Tamaki was trying to get Haruhi to be excited about the upcoming trip and Honey was speaking to Mori excitedly about all the fun they were going to have.

"Nothing!" they replied innocently, both smiling at her like they were completely blameless.

Aria growled. "Right," she replied cynically, "do you honestly expect me to believe that you two didn't rig the outcome? I know you did something."

The Hitachiin twins laughed and pat her on the head. "Well that's not very nice," they said, faking hurt expressions. "Are you calling us liars?"

She didn't reply but she looked at them with a raised eyebrow and a stern lip.

"Don't worry so much!" said Hikaru reassuringly.

"Just think of all the fun you'll be having with us!" Kaoru concluded. Aria narrowed her eyes more, giving up on trying to get them to tell her what they did to make her name come out of that hat. She knew they had looked suspicious.

The twins very suddenly stopped laughing to themselves about how reproachful she was and looked as though something brilliant came to them. They leaned over so their faces were close to hers. Aria backed up a little, feeling like her personal bubble was being violated before eying them as well.

There as a long pause in which the three stared. "Can we go bathing suit shopping with you?" they asked finally.

At this, Aria blushed slightly. "No!" she snapped, shoving past them. "Perverts…"

"Eh…it's okay," she heard Hikaru say behind her. "We'll just bring mom's designs on the ship then."

Kaoru sounded excited. "That way, Aria can have a whole wardrobe of bathing suits to choose from."

Aria hurried away, deciding not to comment and ignore them.

"Ari-chan! Ari-chan!" called a young voice. She looked over and she found Honey standing by a large window and staring up at her with a cake in his hands. "I want to share my cake with you."

She had forgotten that she had promised Honey she'd eat cake with him. She wasn't in the mood for sweets, especially because she wanted to talk to Kyoya about picking someone else to go on the cruise instead. She was just about to tell Honey that she'd have to take a rain check but the look on his face was too precious for her to deny him.

"All right, Honey-senpai," she said, grinning. At this, Honey let out a shout of approval and hurried over to the nearest table.

Within ten minutes, the entire cake was devoured, Aria only having a small slice and she hadn't even finished half of it. She stared blankly at the Honey, completely amazed that he had just consumed the entire thing so quickly. Aria didn't even know it had been possible.

"Honey-senpai…" she heard Kyoya's smooth voice from behind her as she was mid bite. "I don't mean to infringe on your time with our newest guest, but I was wondering if I could borrow her for a few moments to discuss the trip with her."

The blonde swallowed the last bit of cake before answering. "Right now?" he said, sounding a little sad.

Kyoya chuckled his infamous light laugh. "Just for a couple of minutes, senpai. You can have her back after that."

"Oh, yeah…I _love_ being passed around like an interesting toy," Aria said quietly in her sarcastic tone she was known for. Honey hadn't heard her but Kyoya did, and he smirked to himself. Honey relented and went to find Mori, who wasn't far off.

Aria stood up and followed Kyoya back to his sleek, silver laptop. They sat down across from each other and he went back to typing on his computer.

"You're going to have to pick someone else," she stated before he could even open his mouth. The glare from his computer screen was blocking out his eyes on his glasses so Aria wasn't sure if he was looking at the screen, or at her.

There was a long pause before he said anything, long enough for her to wonder if he was ignoring her. "Why do you say that, Aria?" he asked.

She was beginning to despise the way his velvet reminiscent voice sounded.

"Because I don't even _know_ you guys," she explained. "I just met all of you today and you're going to take me on a cruise around the Caribbean, all expenses paid? That's just…unfair…to the Host Club of course. Or even the girls who regularly attend this…thing."

Her intention wasn't to finish off her sentence sounding lame but her first word choice would have been rather rude to describe the Host Club.

Another dreadfully long pause before he decided to reply.

"The cruise isn't for another month at the start of winter break," he said distractedly, closing his laptop and smiling at her. "That allows you plenty of time to get to know the Host Club."

Aria glared at him in spite of herself.

"Besides, it's impossible to pick someone else to join us on the trip."

"How so?" she spat. "It's not like it takes an astrophysicist to stick your hand in a hat full of names and pull a new one out."

Kyoya laughed, adjusting his glasses. "We can't pick another girl to attend because your name is already on the roundtrip plane ticket and on the registry for the ship for your suite," he replied, showing her the tickets and the registry.

Aria stared him. How the hell did they do that so fast!?

"If you back out, you'll have to reimburse us for not going," explained Kyoya with an abrupt serious expression. "With the price of the room, the plane tickets, the catering, and shore activities, it amounts to around one million yen."

She nearly fell out of her chair at the sound of the price. Aria quickly did the math in her head and it came out to roughly ten thousand US dollars. "Holy shit…" she choked out. However, even in her shock, she knew that Kyoya was only using that tactic on her to get her to give in and go.

Knowing that, she could not find the self-control to not glare even harder at him. Aria did not appreciate the fact that a prize that the Host Club was giving away very suddenly became a means extortion against her.

Aria's pride screamed at her to not accept such a gift…but her common sense kicked in. _There's no way I could pay them that kind of money…_

Finally, after a long moment of her fiercely staring at him, and him holding a vaguely smug expression, Aria grumbled in defeat.

"So, it's settled," said Kyoya with his stupid smile. He then went into detail of when their flight was to Houston, Texas, where the cruise ship would depart a few hours after their landing at the nearest port. Kyoya smoothly laid out a brochure of the ship. It wasn't like normal commercial cruise ships, because it was only going to be housing eight people but the thing was huge anyway.

According to Kyoya, who, not so casually, mentioned it was his family's private cruise ship (Aria decidedly ignored the comment), the ship housed an arcade, a few restaurants, the main dining room, a promenade of shops, all the suites where they would spend the night, an ice rink, a movie theater, a casino (which wouldn't be in use because they were all to young to gamble), two clubs, and a small aquarium. On the deck were two pools, one was a saltwater pool, the other was normal chlorine but that one had a slide and water fountains. Along with the two pools, were a giant Jacuzzi, a mini golf course, and a rock-climbing wall. Not only that, at night, there were different activities that would happen, like Bingo, movie night, dancing, and little stuff like "Name-That-Tune" games.

He also went into depth about the different places they would be stopping at. "Jamaica, Barbados, and the Cayman Islands are just three of the many ports we will be visiting," Kyoya explained airily before telling her about the different activities the Host Club could enjoy on land. For example, the beach, zip lining, snorkeling, bungee jumping, jet skis and Sea-Doos, parasailing, and other stuff that Aria couldn't remember.

"Oh, one final thing," he said. She raised an eyebrow.

"There can't possibly be anymore for you to explain!"

Again with the Kyoya chuckle. "Every night, we are expected to eat in the main dining hall," he replied. "Most nights, it doesn't matter what you dress like, but there are six nights out of the sixteen day cruise that are formal. Therefore, you're expected to wear formal attire."

Aria frowned, not liking the idea of having to dress up. "Joy…" she said darkly.

Kyoya stood up. "I expect I covered everything, but if you have any further questions, feel free to ask Tamaki or I," he said, picking up his laptop. "He and I were the ones who came up with idea of a cruise vacation."

"No, I think you covered everything," said Aria in a scornful tone.

With that, it was time for everyone to start heading home. They all made their way out to the parking lot, where limos were waiting for the Host Club members, minus Haruhi. Aria didn't need a car, seeing that her house was on the outer grounds of Ouran and was within walking distance.

The moment she was free from Kyoya, the twins swooped in.

"Are you coming to the Host Club tomorrow?"

"No," she said flatly.

"Aww, please!" whined Hikaru into her right ear.

"Hell no."

"But we want to entertain you!" said Kaoru in her left.

"No way in hell," Aria grumbled.

Tamaki abruptly stopped talking to Haruhi to turn around, overhearing what was being said between the three of them. "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you!" he said. "You're coming in free-of-charge until the cruise, Aria. I guess I forgot to mention that to Kyoya too."

"Indeed, I was not informed of this…" said Kyoya. He appeared unconcerned with it though as he walked with the group all while scribbling in his black notebook. In the back of her mind, Aria hoped he would somehow trip because he was not watching where he was going.

The twins refused to give up and jumped in front of her to stop her progress. They wrapped their arms around each other, smiling wryly.

"But you don't know what you're missing if you don't experience a set of twins hosting you, Aria."

She avoided the twins' seductive eyes, feeling her skin grow hot. "I'm not coming back…ever!" snapped Aria, walking around them.

She must have said something wrong because Honey and Tamaki all went into a bit of shock. Aria watched as all of them looked really upset.

"Bu-bu-but, Ari-chan!" cried Honey, clutching his bunny close to him. Tears were forming into his eyes.

_Ah crap…I made him cry, s_he thought hopelessly.

"If you don't come back," he sniffed, "wh-who will eat cake with me?"

Aria was trying to find a way to gently tell him she didn't want to revisit the Host Club, especially because she didn't want to get caught up in that kind of strange, reverse harem. It's not that she did not like the Host Club members…well, most of them, but Aria really didn't need a reputation of being tied with them closely.

"Se non si frequentano, si dovrà rimborsare _(if you don't attend, you will have to reimburse us)," _said Kyoya airily from the front of the group, causing Aria to freeze on the spot.

_This guy is going to be the death of me, I know it, _she thought miserably, shooting a hard look at the back of Kyoya's head.

None of the others understood what he said but Aria sighed in defeat. "Then I guess I'm coming to the Host Club tomorrow…" she mumbled catching Haruhi's apologetic expression.

Tamaki, the twins, and Honey, however, were overjoyed. "What did you say, senpai?" asked the twins, grabbing a hold of Kyoya in excitement.

"I merely stated a fact."

The Hitachiin brothers did not understand what he meant by this, but they seemed satisfied anyways. They high fived each other before they dropped their voices, hissing about what sort of act they should put on for Aria the next day.

The group was at the parking lot now and there were four separate cars parked at the sidewalk, all still running. They all said their goodbyes but Aria could not help but notice how expensive the vehicles were as the twins climbed in one, Tamaki in another, and Mori and Honey in the first one.

"Vuoi un passaggio a casa, signorina _(Would you like a ride home, miss?)_" said Kyoya as Aria walked past the last black car. She turned to find him standing behind the right back seat door, smiling serenely at her.

"Due cose _(two things)_," she said, eyes dark. "Uno: smettere di parlare in Italiano. E due: andare all'inferno _(one: stop speaking in Italian. And two: go to Hell)."_

Kyoya laughed, unfazed with her reaction. "Have a good night, Aria."

He sat into his seat and shut the door before the car pulled away smoothly from the curb. Aria's eyes followed the car out of the parking lot before she continued walking. She realized that her behavior was probably not justified, but she had a gut feeling that he was not the type of person she wanted to be stuck in a car with, no matter how short the distance was.

* * *

Aria sat on the counter, reading _Pride and Prejudice _by Jane Austen while she waited for the chicken to cook. She had read this book before, the most recent time about a year ago, for her own enjoyment, but her world literature class was in the middle of reading it. She knew the entire story like she knew her ABCs, but she still felt it necessary to read it over for a fourth time. The twins had been fussing over the book, claiming it lacked action and was entirely boring.

After another couple of minutes, the timer went off to signify her baked chicken was done. She went about setting the dinner table for her and her brother, who would be home within a few minutes.

Tonight's dinner consisted of chicken, rice, and steamed broccoli. Quick, easy, and simple. She was certainly not the best cook out there but she definitely did not want Dom to ever cook anything for the two of them either. Any time that he did inevitably ended up in complete disaster.

She heard the front door open and close. "It smells like Heaven in here!" shouted Domenico from the foyer in English. He came dashing around the corner, dropped his bag on the floor, and sat down at the table with a goofy grin on his face.

At home, the Auditore siblings either spoke in Italian or English; both didn't particularly like the Japanese language on their tongues…and it wasn't like there was anyone else in the house to hear them speak.

"Hi, Dom," she laughed, setting down his can of root beer in front of him. He already started to dig in when she finally sat down herself.

He swallowed before replying. "How was your first day?" he asked. Dom had started two days before she had and he apparently was loving Ouran University.

Dom saw his sister's eyes grow dark as she viciously cut her chicken. He couldn't help but laugh at her reaction to his question.

"That bad?" he asked.

She sighed. "Well, no…actually," Aria replied, setting down her fork and knife. She looked at Dom with a strange expression. "I mean…generally, it was alright. I already have a lot of homework, but that's to be expected…. I…"

Her sentence trailed away and her brother raised an eyebrow curiously at her. She hesitated to finish. "And…I made some friends."

"That's awesome, Aria!" exclaimed Dom, although finally understanding why she had such a bleak look on her face. His sister, for the last three years, had shied away from making friends, and knew why but…it was still strange to see her so uncertain about it. "Who?"

Not that he thought he was going to know any of the people she would name off but he just wanted her to keep talking. Out of the two of them, Aria was the quieter one. It wasn't that she wasn't outgoing…but sometimes she intimidated others because she always had such a solemn expression on her face. Dom had taken it upon himself to take care of her…but she always ended up, in some way, taking care of him…like making dinner.

"Tamaki Suoh, Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin, Haruhi Fujioka, Takashi Morinozuka, Mitsukuni Haninozuka, and," she paused, her expression almost murderous, "…Kyoya Ootori…."

Dom raised an eyebrow. "Befriending the Host Club, are we?" he laughed, sipping on his root beer. Aria looked up at him, confused.

"You've heard of them?" she asked, shocked.

He rolled his eyes. "All the girls talk about them. It's hard not to hear about the Host Club wherever I go," he replied nonchalantly. "Word is, they're a bunch of super good-looking dudes with a _whole_ lot of money."

Aria scoffed. "Basically…" she said after swallowing her bite of rice. "They're an …interesting bunch. I _guess _you could say they're my friends."

"Except for that Ootori guy?" Dom inquired with a smirk. "Sounded like you hate him actually."

Just the sound of his name made her eyes black. "Well, he and the Hitachiin twins are going to drive me crazy…."

She paused.

Aria wanted to tell her brother that she had won a trip with the Host Club but she didn't really know how to bring it up without him freaking out. And it wasn't like he could say no…even if he was her caretaker for now…but Kyoya said that if she didn't go, they'd have to pay back the Host Club and she did not have ten thousand dollars just laying around.

Sure, her parents sent her and her brother money and they didn't use it because the Academy paid for everything they needed…but the amount of money that she had saved before she came to the school, and the money she received from her parents didn't come close to ten thousand dollars.

She only had half of the amount that Kyoya said she would have to pay.

Domenico noticed her pensive mood. "Just tell me, Aria," he said after another moment. "I can tell you're hiding something."

"I'm not hiding!" she snapped defensively. Her brother laughed.

"Right…" he replied, sounding cynical. "You're a horrible liar."

After a moment more of encouraging, she told him how she won a vacation on a private cruise ship to tour the Caribbean with the Host Club. She explained how she tried to get out of it but Kyoya had trapped her in a corner where she couldn't, seeing she didn't have that kind of money. Aria also spoke of how she was going to be stuck with seven guys and would be the only girl in the group.

Apart from being the only girl, Dom took the news of her fortune quite nicely. She expected he would have, seeing that he wasn't expected to pay for her.

"Wait…during winter break?" he asked, getting up to do the dishes. "I thought you and I were going to go home during our break?"

Aria had forgotten about that. "Shit," she hissed. "I can't go! I just told you, Kyoya will force me to pay him back for the entire thing if I don't go with them."

Dom frowned while he rinsed of his plate. "True…well, I guess we can't do anything about it."

She rolled her eyes, knowing he wasn't much help. "I don't know how I'm going to tell mom and dad."

"You don't," her brother said flatly. "I'll tell them when I see them. I doubt they'll be thrilled…but once they know you couldn't get out of it, they won't be too upset. Besides, you should be stoked you're going on a cruise!"

Aria sighed and stood up to hand her brother her plate. He had a point, but it was with people she had just met.

A few hours later, Domenico was already in his bedroom, getting ready to go to sleep. Aria, however, had a two more pages she was reading for chemistry, and then she would go to bed.

She dug through her bag to get her cell phone, having forgotten about it all night, and found she had seven text messages. Confused, she opened up her inbox.

_You've gotta be kidding me, _she thought.

"_Ari-chan! I'm so happy you're going on a trip with us!" _was the first text message. She automatically picked up who this was. She saved the number into her contacts as Honey.

The next message made her laugh briefly. _"Hey…" _

Definitely Mori.

There were two text messages that were exactly the same from two different numbers. _"Aria! Request us to be your host tomorrow!" _The twins.

"_Hi, aren't you so excited to go on a cruise with us? I'm excited you're coming! You and Haruhi can be best friends!" _Tamaki. Aria wondered why the heck he wanted her to be Haruhi's friend so bad. Aria would have to ask him in calculus tomorrow.

"_I'm sorry you got sucked into the Host Club like this, Auditore." _Haruhi.

The last was from Kyoya and it was also the first text Aria replied to. _"I took the liberty of giving the Host Club your cell number, in case we need to get a hold of you."_

"_How the hell did you get my number!" _was her furious reply.

He never ended up replying, to Aria's great annoyance, but she decided not to reply to anyone else, fearing she'd be up all night talking instead of sleeping.

Tomorrow was going to be another hell of a day.

* * *

Aria had gotten to her AP calculus class early, so she had her head on the cool desk, deep in thought.

She was still stuck on why Tamaki was so keen on wanting her to be best friends with Haruhi. It was such a random request and desire. She figured Tamaki would be more interested in wanting to become her best friend himself. Not that Aria really cared either way.

She lifted her head up but continued to stare unblinkingly at the desk for another couple minutes while people were coming into the class room.

"Good morning, Aria!" said the voice of the person she had just been thinking about in a chipper voice. Aria lifted her eyes and saw Tamaki, with Kyoya a few steps behind, making their way towards her at the back of the room. Aria couldn't help but notice how the other students in the room seem to revere them in some way, either by staring, moving aside, or any other sort of nonsense.

Tamaki had that grin he always had on his face and Kyoya looked pleasant…. They sat down on either side of her, keeping her in the middle of them.

The few girls in the room were looking in her direction but Aria ignored their envious stares as she turned a sharp gaze at Kyoya, who was on her right. "Answer my question," she snapped.

He smiled wider to himself and he pushed up his glasses to sit higher on the bridge of his nose. "I am afraid I don't understand what you are talking about," he said, pulling out his calculator and pencils.

Aria growled. "My cell number," she said shortly. "How did you get it?"

"Oh!" he said, as if he finally understood. "The school's files."

She was already exhausted with him and decided not to reply directly. "Whatever…" she huffed, irritated that the school did not put any extensive security measures on student files.

Tamaki was in a particularly enthusiastic mood today as he talked at high speeds to Aria about the upcoming trip. She didn't see what was so special to him about it…it's not like he hasn't gone on trips like this before…at least, she assumed that.

Calculus thankfully went by fast, but she unfortunately couldn't get away from Kyoya. He offered to walk with her to their AP anatomy class. Aria tried to find every possible angle to get out of it…but none of her solutions were really logical. She gave in and walked silently along with him to their next class after they said their good-byes to Tamaki.

She noticed how the crowd of students would simply part just for the two of them to walk past. Aria realized that the Host Club was…basically royalty at the school, especially with all the giggling, frivolous-minded girls that were infatuated with Kyoya as he passed them. Aria couldn't help but roll her eyes to herself.

Although, with some thought, she guessed she could understand why the girls were behaving in the manner that they were. The Host Club had some of the best looking men in the entire school…and also some of the wealthiest.

Plus, the Host Club members all had diverse, endearing qualities that different girls liked. They very much catered to the needs of them.

"Doesn't mean they have to bow down to their presence though…" she mumbled to herself.

"Scusi _(Excuse me/pardon me)_?" said Kyoya.

"_Stop _speaking in Italian!" Aria snapped without thinking. "You aren't ever going to win me over!"

He didn't look at all fazed by her sudden outburst and just turned back to look ahead of him. "I'm sorry," he said in an apologetic tone. "I figured it would make you feel at home."

Aria felt her heart skip a beat, something it seemed to do often when she was around Kyoya. Remorse rose into her throat and she felt bad for shouting at him like that.

She didn't understand. Kyoya was just too nice and she felt like…this was some sort of game to him. Aria just didn't trust his intentions…especially because he was the brains behind the Host Club. Who runs something like that without feeling as if they're immoral?

They reached their anatomy class and they automatically sat next to each other at a lab table. Again, with the envious glares from girls. Immediately, Kyoya pulled out his laptop and began working away on it before the bell rang.

Aria couldn't help but notice that he was writing a small piece he was supposed to turn in for his English class.

"You've made a few mistakes…" said Aria quietly.

Kyoya's typing slowed and he looked at her. "Excuse me…?" he asked, his voice sounding like he was riding on the edge of iciness. Aria wondered if she angered him…not that she really cared.

She pointed at the screen on the laptop at a line he had written in the paragraph above.

"Well first, you've used the wrong word," she said. "This is supposed to be 't-h-e-i-r,' not 't-h-e-r-e.' And second, generation is not spelled with a 'j.' It's spelled with a 'g.'"

Kyoya blinked for a moment and turned his gaze towards her.

"Thanks…" he said shortly, pushing up his glasses again.

Yeah…she pissed him off. She wondered what exactly she said to make him angry. Aria sighed and turned her attention to her anatomy book, since the bell overhead tolled. It was going to be really awkward period….

* * *

She was exasperating.

I cannot understand what everyone is worked about when it comes to her. Honey-senpai's affection toward Aria is understandable; he likes everyone who will enjoy a piece of cake with him. Honey-senpai is a naive character, he trusts anyone who gives him the slightest reason to. Mori-senpai…? I can never really tell what he thinks of others. I guess he tolerates anyone that Honey-senpai likes.

Hikaru and Kaoru obviously found a new "toy." Aria's quick comebacks and biting sarcasm was enough to catch their attention, especially because the manner she reacts in when they tease her always entertained them. The more she reacted, the more they taunted.

Tamaki's intentions were clear as day.

He wanted Aria and Haruhi to become best friends so it would bring out the feminine side in Haruhi. However, I had told Tamaki that it probably wouldn't work, because Aria wasn't exactly much of a girl herself, at least from what my research showed of her. She was known to be a tomboy.

And judging by how awkwardly she tended to fidget with her uniform made it clear to me that she did not feel comfortable in dresses. I had noticed that while hosting the day before, as I had been analyzing everything about her like I do to anyone I meet.

Tamaki, however, refused to be put out. He devised the plan to get Aria to be close friends with Haruhi by joining forces with the twins and rigging the outcome of the lottery so Aria could join the trip around the Caribbean. They had started this plan when I had mentioned a new transfer student was going to be joining Haruhi's class about three weeks ago. That's when he announced the cruise trip initially.

It better damn well work because all of us did _not _pitch in more money for Haruhi and Aria just so Tamaki's ridiculous plan to fail. He would pay me back ten-fold if it does.

Yes, this entire winter vacation was devised just so Tamaki's "little girl" could have a close female companion, which in turn would bring out a womanly side of her. I still have to remind myself that I had actually agreed to spend a large part of the Host Club's earnings on this idea.

However, this also meant I was expected to play nice with the new student. Aria obviously did not appreciate it in the slightest, which only, in turn, has made me dislike her. Well, I didn't precisely dislike her, because if I did, I wouldn't find it amusing to taunt her, but she was definitely aggravating.

Thus far, I do not see any financial, business, or personal gain to keep Aria closely in my ring of friends. She clearly has no assets that could appeal to me. She wants to be a doctor and that frankly does not do me or my family any good. That being said, Tamaki would not appreciate it if I were to behave rudely to her.

After all, she is our guest.

However, I felt as if I was wearing this mask…more than I have ever felt in my life. I wore the mask all the time during Host Club hours and even when I was in the presence of my father. Perhaps I am wearing it more now.

The twins may like her curt characteristics and her sharp sarcasm, but I found it rather unbecoming of any woman. I knew though, that Hikaru and Kaoru weren't only interested in personality; I'm sure that even a blind man could see that Aria was in fact a well-bred specimen of a girl, even if she didn't present herself as such. It is a real shame to waste that kind of beauty.

I glanced at her as we walked to anatomy together. I made her sound like she was a show dog.

She mumbled something to herself. "Scusi?" I asked her in Italian.

I hadn't expected her explosion at this. _"Stop _speaking in Italian! You aren't ever going to win me over!"

The irritation of having to go along with Tamaki's little plan very nearly exploded inside me but I remained outwardly unfazed by her small attack at me. Various swear words came to mind but I said nothing for a moment.

"I'm sorry," I replied gently, though I was seething inside. "I figured it would make you feel at home."

It was obvious that she wasn't expecting that sort of reply and she fell silent. I could tell she felt a little guilty but I didn't say anything as I opened the door to our anatomy class for her. We took a seat at the same lab table and I automatically took out my laptop.

I had a small paper I had for my English class that was due in a few days. I had finished up most of my homework, so I decided that working on this for a few minutes wouldn't hurt. That aside, I had no interest in talking to Aria anymore.

"You've made a few mistakes…" she said in uncharacteristically quiet voice on my left. I clenched my jaw before replying.

"Excuse me?" I asked, sounding a little irritated. Damn…I had hoped I had that under control. She glanced at me with those emerald eyes before she pointed to my laptop.

She pointed out where I had my grammatical errors and a spelling mistake. Normally, I would have seen those errors easily and the fact that I had missed them entirely made my pride flare immensely.

I do not enjoy appearing weak or unintelligent, especially in front of those who I do not particularly care for.

"Thanks…" I replied. Again, I sounded short as I readjusted my glasses.

Well, I _was _irritated with her behavior, especially since I don't know what I was going to get out of it if Haruhi and Aria became best friends. The way Aria acted made me wonder if her and Haruhi would clash more than get along. Tamaki was so insistent though.

I heard her let out an irritated huff. She must be feeling the same way I was.

However, despite not having the fondest of feelings of this foreign girl, it was hard to admit, but I was a bit impressed with her drive to be a part of Ouran. Haruhi's ambition is just as remarkable but Aria had to work to learn Japanese language and culture to attend Ouran, which she did.

Despite my being impressed by her ambition and desire to become a doctor, I still would rather not have to pretend to be so pleasant.

Although…I get the feeling she could see through my façade.


	4. Discoveries

**Author's note: ****for the story's sake, let's just do this. if something cost 10,000 yen, for the story, I just take the last two digits off of the number, and that's how much it would cost in US money. it's just easier for me to understand and for you all as well. Thanks!**

**Chapter Four: Discoveries**

Kyoya and Aria walked silently towards music room three, just having finished up AP physics. As they passed, many of the girls who saw Kyoya giggled, stared, or whispered to each other about him. A few even offered up salutations to him, to which Kyoya politely smiled and gave a charming reply. Even several boys had come up to him to ask him questions about homework or sought his opinion on certain school matters.

Aria watched him quietly, fully aware that most of his conversations and smiles were forced and obligated. She was actually confused as to how everyone else was so oblivious to this fact. Were they really so blind as to see that Kyoya had no genuine interest in what they had to say?

It was still strained between the two of them from when she yelled at him. However, she wasn't about to apologize; she had far too much pride to let herself utter the words, "I'm sorry." Kyoya didn't seem to mind though.

_I really hope he doesn't expect me to request him today. I'd rather deal with twins' stupid incest act than to have to stand another minute with Kyoya, _she thought, relieved that she would get a break from the Ice King.

Even though it was tense between them, Kyoya was still acting gentlemanly, to her extreme displeasure. He had been opening doors and pulling out chairs for her all day long, except lunchtime. The twins had converged onto her like bears to food at a camping ground, so Kyoya didn't have to talk to her or sit with her.

Kyoya opened the door to music room three and gestured for her to enter first. The voices were pretty loud as she stepped in. She found the all the other host members had made it before her and Kyoya.

"Haruhhiiiii!" whined Tamaki. "If you become her best friend, then you'll be able to be a girl and you know daddy wants to see his little girl get all dressed up! Isn't that what you want? To be a girl and act like a girl?"

"Good lord," groaned Haruhi, who was sitting at a table doing homework, attempting to ignore Tamaki's complaints.

"So, Fujioka's a girl…" said Aria with a wry grin. It was said more as a statement than a question.

No one had noticed her and Kyoya walk in. At the sight of Aria, Tamaki looked alarmed while the twins immediately pranced their way over to her.

Haruhi barely even glanced up from her homework. "Yeah, I'm a girl…"

"No, she's a boy!" he said quickly over her.

Aria raised an eyebrow. "Nice cover," she said sardonically but still smiling. Aria was not surprised by the sudden discovery. She had been wondering all night if she was just making things up in her head. Everything made a lot more sense to her, like why Haruhi looked and sounded so much like a girl. "Do I want to know the story behind this?"

"Not really," said Haruhi dryly. "Long story short, I am dressed like a boy and hosting to pay back the Host Club."

"She's in debt," said Honey with his cute smile.

Aria was thoughtful but didn't press, much to everyone's surprise. "I'm guessing this is supposed to be a secret…"

"Pretty much," said Haruhi, still engrossed in her homework. "So, please don't tell anyone."

The Host Club opened about fifteen minutes later, the girls rushing in like animals in a stampede. Aria was able to sit with the twins…although it also meant she was sitting with the two girls she saw yesterday with them. Aria wasn't sure what she was more annoyed with: the girls giggling and fawning over the Hitachiin brothers and their strange brotherly love or the Hitachiin brothers themselves.

As long as she wasn't stuck with the Ice King, which was her official new nickname for Kyoya, she didn't care.

* * *

I think…I finally understand how Hikaru feels for Haruhi. Well, in a general sense at least. Sure, I enjoyed teasing Haruhi and playfully flirting with her with my twin, but I had never been really interested in her in the way that Hikaru was, even though he doesn't really know what he's feeling. Haruhi was a genuinely good person; I could easily see that. However, she was rather…_boring _in a lot of what she did and was always really absorbed in her homework. Sure, she had the potential to be pretty, but she just…was so plain to me with her short hair and small figure. She just didn't strike me as a girl I wanted to be with.

With Aria though…the roles reversed.

Hikaru obviously had just as much fun as I did with picking on her…but Aria's dry humor and clever words didn't attract his attention like it had mine. Both Haruhi and Aria did have similar qualities in them; they both weren't at all affected by our "brotherly love" acts during Host Club hours, both could distinguish us from the other easily, and both weren't impressed with our good looks or wealth.

I liked that. It made it more challenging.

Hikaru couldn't deny though, Aria was beautiful…and although beauty should not be the sole reason to love another, physical attraction usually puts a step in that direction first. I don't feel it's shallow to want physical beauty in a relationship, just as long as that isn't the only reason I would stay with her. Besides, everyone notices beauty before personality, I don't care what anyone says.

Believe me, I wasn't going as far as to say I'm in love with her. I've only known her for about two weeks…but I can assure anyone that I was seriously attracted to her. Aria, like Haruhi, was oblivious to this fact, which I didn't mind. She treated me as a close friend and I'm sure being in a relationship with someone isn't exactly the first thing that came to mind when she transferred to Ouran Academy. Well, when I say close friend…it means I hope I'm considered her close friend. I understand that Hikaru and I do cause her quite a bit of annoyance by picking on her but she seems to enjoy the challenge.

I was happy.

Hikaru could fight the boss over Haruhi, and I could have Aria all to myself.

Which, in a sense, I already did. This last week and half before winter break and our upcoming vacation, Hikaru and I have been spending quite a bit of time with Haruhi and Aria, since we are all in the same class.

Everyone knows that Hikaru and I are inseparable. It's just how it works…but at lunchtime, when it's the Host club eating lunch together, we tend to part ways just slightly. Hikaru mainly talks to Haruhi if she isn't being bombarded by the rest of the club, and I talk to Aria as much as I can.

Speaking of lunchtime, we just left for lunch now. Today was a Tuesday schedule so I hadn't seen her at all yet. The thought of seeing Aria always got my heart pumping and my stomach to fill with butterflies. Just knowing I'd see her for lunch period was enough to keep a smile on my face all day.

I've never had that reaction with any girl I've met or even had a small thought of liking. Not that there were many girls I've ever liked…none of them were interesting enough for my taste…and no other girl other than Haruhi would _really _be able to put up with me and my twin. We basically come as a package deal.

Hikaru and I waited by the ordering station for the rest of the Host Club. Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai were the first to show. They ordered and grabbed our usual table. Haruhi came next with her signature bento lunch. Hikaru left me with his food to sit with her when the boss came to order his own lunch.

After another minute, I saw her.

I couldn't help but smile to myself as she walked in with Kyoya-senpai. They looked like they might be arguing or something similar, both casting glares at each other.

That was just their relationship. I don't think Kyoya-senpai is too fond of her. At first, they were very cordial with each other…I have no idea what happened but now they argue just about every second they have to interact and neither of them give in. Hikaru and I find it funny…mostly because Kyoya has never encountered someone, especially a commoner, who would snap back as quickly and as ruthlessly as Aria did sometimes. Kyoya also had never been pleased by the idea of spending more money on the trip for Tamaki's "Get Haruhi to Act Like a Girl" scheme.

The Shadow King was…stingy with his money. We all knew that.

"I'm sorry I don't have a million yen just lying around for me to toss at you, senpai," I heard Aria say, casting a dark look at Kyoya-senpai. She didn't sound all that sorry.

"Well, the least you could do is be more appreciative," he replied in a dark tone, though keeping a slightly pleasant appearance for others around them.

She made no move to reply and it didn't seem like Kyoya-senpai cared because after he said hi to me, he went to order. I'm sure they'd just pick up where they left off in their physics class together.

"Hi," she said to me, losing her irritated look and smiling gently.

We had a routine. Ever since her first day, I've ordered her food for her. She never really knew what meals were excellent and which ones were just decent. I liked that, even in the smallest ways, she had to rely on me. Not that she was incapable or helpless…but she wasn't use to the wealthy lifestyle I was.

Once I ordered our food, we went over to sit with the Host Club. Just walking beside her…made me feel at ease. She was the second person Hikaru and I involuntarily let into our little personal bubble and she barely had to try.

I liked the foreign feeling of my world being invaded.

* * *

Laying on her bed, Aria was deep in concentration. She had only a little more anatomy homework and then she would be done for winter break. She desperately wanted it all to be done so she wouldn't have to do it on the trip, which was only two days away. She had mostly everything packed, save a few items that were in her laundry. She was a tad bit stressed out; she didn't bring any formal attire when she moved so she was out of luck with dresses. She figured she would just go out tomorrow, which was Saturday, and find some stuff before she finished up packing entirely.

Tamaki had told her not to worry about overpacking. In fact, Aria was fairly sure that he was encouraging her to pack her entire room if she really wanted too. She was okay with this though; she wasn't quite sure what she was going to need on this trip so she though that bringing more than she should wouldn't hurt if she wasn't going to have to pay for the baggage fee.

As she let her thoughts run away with themselves, her cell phone rang.

Aria felt a bit of dread rise in her throat. She figured it was one of the Host Club members, probably the twins or Tamaki; they called nearly every day for no reason at all. She was going to ignore the call, having no interest being stuck on the phone but she looked at the caller ID anyway.

Haruhi Fujioka.

Curious, Aria put down her pencil. _Haruhi? That's random…_

"Hello?" she said politely. _Maybe she needs to know what the homework is for break._

There was a small pause. "Hi, Auditore," said Haruhi's voice on the other end.

"You can just call me, Aria. I don't really mind," Aria said, sitting up to lean against the headboard.

"Oh, okay," said Haruhi awkwardly. "Well, this is going to sound strange but I have a favor to ask."

Aria hated when people said stuff like this. It made her worry. "Okay, what's up?"

It sounded as though Haruhi was gathering courage before she let out a sigh. "I don't have any formal dresses for this stupid trip. I was wondering if…you had any I could borrow…. I know the twins would bring some if I had asked but you know them, they'd bring dresses that were…"

"Promiscuous?" offered Aria. "Obnoxious? Gaudy?"

"Exactly."

That was a relief; it wasn't anything serious. Aria laughed. "In all honesty, I don't think you'd fit in any of my dresses, even if I had any. You're…kind of smaller chested than I am…and shorter."

There was a moment of silence. "Crap," said Haruhi. "I didn't even think of that. I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't have money to just go out and buy anything. And I _really_ don't want to rely on the twins…"

Aria was thoughtful. Her parents had just put in another couple hundred dollars into her bank account…. That turned out to be quite convenient. "Hey, what are you doing tomorrow, Fujioka?"

"It's just Haruhi," she said. "And nothing that I know of. I already finished up my homework…but I'm sure Tamaki-senpai will think of something for us to do. He usually ends up kidnapping me on the weekends. I can never escape them."

Aria laughed. "Well, I was going to go dress shopping for the trip tomorrow. Why don't you join me? I'll get a few for you too while we're there. And Tamaki-senpai will just have to wait to see you on Sunday. Besides, it's not like he isn't going to see you for sixteen days straight."

Another pause. "I can't let you pay for my formal attire…" she said in a downcast voice.

"I think you can…trust me, it's fine. I have enough money for the both of us," Aria replied good-naturedly. She really did want to help Haruhi out; she worked really hard in her studies to become a lawyer and Aria thought she needed some…time off.

"How? You're not rich."

The way Haruhi said it made Aria laugh. "You're right, I'm not," she answered, looking up at the fan on her ceiling. "But I had been saving money for a long time…and my parents make good pay. They've been sending me money that I don't need, thinking it's for utilities and food here. It's confusing but don't worry about it."

Haruhi begrudgingly accepted her kindness. They arranged to meet at the mall nearest Ouran Academy where they could start their dress shopping. Both weren't very keen on the idea of having to dress up but they knew that they had to since they weren't the ones paying for the trip.

They hung up.

Aria was a little excited to be getting out of the house and she realized that this would be the first time she and Haruhi would be spending time together, one on one, _without _any of the boys around.

_This'll be interesting, _she thought with a smile.

* * *

"I hate dresses…" said Haruhi's voice in the fitting room across from Aria, who laughed at the comment.

"I don't really prefer them either," she replied. "I'm ready if you are."

Haruhi made a noise of irritation but agreement. Both pulled back the blue velvet curtains and stared at each other.

"You look great!" said Aria honestly. And she did.

The dress they both tried on was a white, strapless, short dress with a blue sash around the middle. It was a knee length dress and on both girls, it looked amazing. Haruhi's slim figure made the dress and her look incredibly adorable whereas Aria, who had a fuller bust and a longer torso and legs, made her seem more refined.

Haruhi, turned to look at herself in the mirror. "I think this one looks better on you though…" she said, gazing at Aria's reflection. Aria didn't think that Haruhi had low confidence…but because she was never much of a girl, she didn't feel comfortable against someone who had a womanlier figure.

Aria looked thoughtful. "Actually, there is this same dress with a red sash. You should get the blue and I'll get the red. It'd be cute to match one of the formal nights."

She watched as Haruhi turned to face her, a wry smile on her lips. "I thought you weren't into dressing up?" she asked.

"Trust me…" said Aria, grinning. "I'm not. But even _you_ can't tell me that you don't like the idea of looking cute every once in a while. Besides, I'm sure they'll enjoy the idea of us matching."

"Great…I can just see Tamaki-senpai's face when he sees us…" said Haruhi darkly.

Both thought for a moment and started laughing, before closing their curtains to try on more dresses.

However, from this store, Aria only bought the white dress and continued on down the line of stores in the mall. Aria had an easier time enjoying dressing up…but it took Haruhi longer to loosen up a little. Aria figure it might be the fact that she kept looking at the price tags and putting away the dresses she really liked because of how much it cost. When Aria paid for the white dresses, she watched Haruhi's mood drop drastically as she thanked Aria a thousand times over…and then some.

Aria watched Haruhi put away a cute, pastel yellow dress back into the rack. Aria would never wear such colors but she thought it would look charming on her. "Alright," she said, snatching the knee-length dress from the four-way. "Stop thinking about how much this is going to cost and just get whatever you want. Try this on. You like it."

Haruhi, with much urging tried it on and came out for Aria to see. Haruhi was clearly uncomfortable with idea of twirling around so that her friend could get a better look from all angles.

"Aw," said Aria, smiling up at her. "You're really pretty."

Haruhi frowned, a hint of red forming at her cheeks. "You don't have to lie to make feel better, Aria…"

Aria rolled her eyes but chuckled nonetheless. "Are you calling me a liar?" she asked teasingly, reaching for the hem of her dress. She examined it absently for a moment before continuing on. "C'mon, you're super cute in this and you know you are. Don't act so awkward, jeeze. I'm getting you this."

After this little incident, Haruhi stopped being so uptight and started to actually enjoy trying on a lot of dresses, which Aria was happy for because she was getting tired of Haruhi being withdrawn in her guilt. It still took a great deal of effort for her to try certain dresses but Aria was insistent enough for Haruhi's defenses to drop.

By the time lunch came around, they had all their dresses and needed to buy shoes and maybe jewelry if they had time. Aria had dropped about 270,000 yen already (which amounts to roughly $2700 in US money) but she wasn't worried about it. Haruhi, on the other hand was trying not to feel guilty.

They decided, more so Aria, that the last formal night called for a ball gown so as to end the trip with a "bang." They found a store specifically catering to showy ball gowns and the like and after much debate, with the help of the store's employees, Aria bought a white one and Haruhi settled for a baby blue one.

Aside from the matching white dresses, they also got a floor length dress that also matched. It was the same style and print but Haruhi would wear white, and Aria was going to wear the black one.

The last three dresses Haruhi decided on were all short dresses, about knee-length or a tad shorter. Her dresses were…for the cutesy type and they suited her well. One was the one-shoulder strap yellow dress with a bow, another was a little black dress that was strapless and simple, and the final one was a light blue spaghetti strap dress that also had a bow and sash on it.

Aria's dresses were more elegant, save for one. Two of them were floor length, both sleek and giving Aria a sophisticated, elegant look. One was a halter and charcoal gray and the other was a one-shoulder strap dress in a beautiful purple. The last dress wasn't precisely formal but more of a party or going to a club dress, but Aria didn't care. It was a strapless, short dress; it only stopped mid-thigh. It was black and white but had a cool style design on the front that she loved, so she bought it the second she saw it on her. It was an edgy dress.

Aria couldn't help but be a little excited for formal nights on the ship.

"Can I pay for lunch?" Haruhi asked suddenly as they walked into the food court. Aria raised an eyebrow.

She was about to tell her no before she got cut off.

"There they are!" shouted a unison of voices.

Aria froze on the spot, knowing exactly who had just spotted them, but Haruhi let out an irritated sigh, not all that surprised. They both glanced at each other, Haruhi's face growing dark.

Aria was abruptly very thankful their dresses were covered in black bags instead of clear ones. She didn't want them to see what they were buying.

Sure enough, the twins and the entire Host Club came up to them, all in normal, everyday clothing. It was weird to Aria seeing them dressed this way. She had never had the chance to see them outside of school until now. Especially Kyoya…the fact that he wasn't in a suit and tie made him seem far less pretentious but his expression was still as arrogant as ever.

"Do they always appear out of no where?" asked Aria to Haruhi, who looked just as annoyed as her.

"Actually…yes," said Haruhi, ignoring Tamaki's incessant questions about what was in the bags.

"We've been trying to get a hold of you two all day," said Hikaru, curiously reaching out to take Haruhi's load. Haruhi jerked them away from him.

"Yeah, we called both of your phones at least a hundred times!" Kaoru said, also reaching for the bags in their hands. Aria smacked his hand and gave him a warning look.

"You asked my dad where I was, didn't you?" said Haruhi with a roll of her eyes.

Kyoya chuckled. "And who else would we have asked?"

"What did you buy?" asked Honey, looking at the two girls expectantly.

Aria wondered how they were going to get out of this without Tamaki and twins freaking out. After a moment of intense thinking, she found no such way. "I bought us some formal dresses for the cruise. We didn't have any-"

"What!?" shouted the twins and Tamaki. However, Tamaki looked like he was incredibly pleased at the idea of Haruhi in a dress…the twins looked upset.

"We could have gotten dresses for you!" they said, looking put out.

"Where on earth did you get enough money for that?" asked Kyoya, genuinely curious. Aria threw him a dirty look.

"I'm _not _poor, for Heaven's sake!" she snapped. "Jeezus…"

The girls continued to argue some more with them before the boys decided they wanted to take them out to lunch. However, Aria told them they had to buy shoes first.

At this, Tamaki, the twins, and Honey seemed excited at the notion of going around the mall and trying to find shoes that matched. Luckily, Aria was still able to pay for it, because she thought maybe someone would have tried to butt in and pay for their stuff himself.

Tamaki was thoroughly excited to know what they were going to look like for formal night. He kept trying to peek into the bags, along with the twins, but all they were really able to see was some color choices…and that was only because the girls had to match their heels with the color of the dress.

After that was all said and done, they bought just a few cheap earrings, bracelets, necklaces and rings that they could mix and match.

"Lunch time!" exclaimed Honey, who was very hungry now. Kyoya seemed to be just as ready for lunch, but in a more unfriendly manner.

They climbed into Tamaki's limo, the girls laying out their dresses on one of the seats. Aria was squashed between Tamaki and a wall so she remained quiet while they all talked about the flight time tomorrow.

As much as Aria was excited to go, she knew what Haruhi was feeling today when Aria bought all the dresses. Aria had the same feelings towards the Host Club taking her on an all expenses paid trip around the Caribbean. It was awfully kind of them to do something like this… especially for a girl they hardly knew.

She was very grateful…not just for this trip but also for the fact that she made good friends in Japan. Sure, they were all really weird in their own ways…but Aria really enjoyed the time she had with them. It had been entirely unexpected but she hadn't had any close friends since the middle of her middle school. Aria quickly turned her thoughts elsewhere, feeling guilt rise in her chest.

"How much did you spend…?"

Aria came out of her reverie and looked up at Tamaki on her left. "What?"

His soft gaze trailed away from her face to the others that were in the car. They watched them for a moment before he repeated his question. "How much did you spend today?"

She shrugged, indifferent. The limo parked before she answered. "Something like…320,000 yen. I don't know, I wasn't all that concerned."

Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw Tamaki frown.

They all piled out the car and Aria immediately heard Haruhi groan about how they had to take them to some expensive, fancy place to eat and how she wasn't dressed for such a place. Aria laughed as they all walked toward the front door, the twins teasing Haruhi about fancy tuna. Haruhi looked a little angry with this so Aria guessed it must be some inside joke.

"Aria…"

She turned around as Tamaki finally got out of the car. The driver shut the door after him before getting into the driver's seat and pulling away from the curb to go park.

Tamaki was holding out a slip of paper, a troubled sort of expression written on his face. Aria recognized the paper as a check and it caused her to eye it doubtfully.

"What do you want me to do with that?" she asked, an almost biting tone in her voice.

"Please take the check," he said in an uncharacteristically soft voice. "It's to cover your expenses today. You shouldn't have spent so much money for something as silly as formal attire for our trip."

He still had his pale hand held out to her…and Aria still didn't take it. "It's fine, senpai," she said with a smile; she hoped it would reassure him that she didn't mind spending money on Haruhi. "I was more than happy to buy her dresses."

Tamaki didn't look like he was going to accept that answer. "You don't have the means to spend money so carelessly. You don't come from a family of wealth," he said, growing ever more concerned. "Please, take the check."

He should have already known she would not take it. Aria was stubborn and prideful, especially when it came to money. She wasn't going to accept it…because she felt like it was…charity, in a way.

"Give that money to Haruhi's family," said Aria, pushing his outstretched hand away from her, ignoring the slightly offended feeling she had at his statement about her parents' financial status. "My family lives very well…we just don't make the same kind of money _you _do, senpai…. Besides, I _wanted _to do this for Haruhi. That's what friends do for each other. They care for one another."

At this statement, Tamaki looked taken aback. However, this expression only lasted about three seconds before he reached out and hugged her tight.

"You're so cute!" he exclaimed. "I knew you were the right girl to be my little Haruhi's best friend!"

"Senpai!" Aria gasped. "You're – crushing me!"

Tamaki let go of her, grinning ear to ear and being the old Tamaki. "I'm so very happy you're going on this trip with us," he said. "Well, if you won't take the check, at least let us buy you lunch."

Aria eyed him. "Fiiine," she sighed, mocking an irritated expression. They went inside, where the others were waiting for them.

She understood now.

It wasn't hard to see that Tamaki only acted like a paternal figure…because he was confused on the fact that he _liked _Haruhi. Aria had presumed that from the beginning, even when she thought Haruhi was a boy, but now…she truly discovered that Tamaki just wanted to be there for Haruhi because he cared about her.

_I have a feeling this vacation is going to be pretty crazy, _she thought to herself, amused at the possibilities of sparks flying between Tamaki and Haruhi. _But…it's going to be fun._


	5. Beauty of the Seas

**Chapter Five: Beauty of the Seas**

"Is this really necessary?" Aria heard Haruhi ask somewhere beside her.

Both were blind. The twins had thought it would be more fun if they were to blindfold Aria and Haruhi in the limo while on the way to the cruise ship. Tamaki also thought this was a clever idea and promptly proceeded to tie a forest green cloth napkin from the limo around Haruhi's head.

Now, after both girls were roughly pushed out of the car and stumbling around because they could see nothing, they were being led by the hand. They only thing they could tell from their surroundings was that it was warm outside, but not to the point where it was burning or sweltering hot.

"I'm going to have to agree with her," said Aria, holding down some of her annoyance. She had tripped over someone's shoes about three times now. She only assumed it was Kaoru.

"Hold on, we're almost there!" said the twins. Haruhi audibly sighed but Aria remained silent, feeling the hand that led her get tighter in grip with every step.

Another two minutes of being led, Aria ran headlong into something solid; she assumed it was a person's body, possibly someone's chest from the feel of it. Either way, it surprisingly hurt.

"Ready?" asked a chorus of voices. It was clear that Mori and Kyoya's voice were not part of this.

"About time," said Haruhi, sounding bored.

Aria didn't have a chance to reply before the blindfold was torn from her face. It was bright out so she squinted, letting her eyes adjust to the sudden burst of light.

Both her and Haruhi's jaws went slack at the sight of the boat.

It was a massive ship, obviously built for serious vacation time in mind. It wasn't quite as large as a commercial liner but it certainly was much larger than it should be if it was only housing eight guests.

However, Aria remembered it was supposed to hold storage items like food, the crew to run the liner, and a bunch of other things she couldn't think of at the moment.

"Holy shit…" she whispered, staring blankly up at it.

"Impressive, isn't it?" said Kyoya, sounding pleased with himself. Aria couldn't even feel her normal irritation with him when he acted conceited.

"Yeah…" was all she and Haruhi could say.

She looked at the stern of the ship and painted on the side in bold, golden letters were _Beauty of the Seas _in English. She wondered why it wasn't in Japanese but she didn't ask because the group boys were ready to go aboard.

"Where's our luggage?" asked Haruhi as they walked along the pier.

Kyoya put his hands in his pockets. "Our luggage was taken from the plane directly to the ship. All of it should be in our suites already," he explained.

When they landed it was Monday at 9am or so, in Florida at least. The Host Club had stopped for breakfast after they got off the plane from Japan. Jet lag was weighing on all of them but Tamaki, in all his endless energy, insisted on Aria showing them some traditional American cuisine.

Aria had said that American food wasn't really much different from anywhere else because America had all types of food from all different areas of the world.

"America is a melting pot of cultures, Tamaki-senpai…" she tried to explain but before she finished, the boys were attracting attention from girls in every which direction.

To say the least, breakfast had been more work that it should have been, for Aria at least. By unanimous vote from the boys, they all wanted to eat at Denny's. Aria tried to tell them that Denny's was usually known for slow service, something they weren't use to, _and _not to mention that Denny's food wasn't even remotely close to they extravagant food they usually put into their stomach. However, none of them really seemed to listen to her…and that was just where Aria's troubles started.

They all spoke relatively good English, with the exception of Kyoya who was completely fluent, so they were able to converse well enough with the waitress, who was incessantly flirting with the twins. They took this as the opportunity to flirt back with her, and turn on the stupid act of "brotherly love."

"Stop it," Aria hissed at when the waitress had finally left to place their orders. "You can't behave like that here!"

"Why not?" they asked, looking painfully innocent from across the table. Aria ignored them and turned to Honey, who was pulling on her arm on her right.

"How do you play this?" he asked, looking adorably confused, pointing at the kid's menu with little games to pass the time with. It was a tic-tac-toe grid. Aria stifled the need to exhale deeply and opened her mouth to reply.

But her eye caught sight of Tamaki, who was sitting at the head of the table, opening up a cap of ketchup and peering into it like it was some fascinating toy. "Tamaki-senpai!" Aria snapped, shooting him a warning look. "What are you doing!"

"This is ketchup, right?" he asked, looking at her with his own innocent expression (except his innocence was in fact, a reality because the twins were never innocent). "Why does it come in a _plastic_ bottle?"

Aria's fists clenched under the table. "Because it's cheaper to manufacture it and ship it out to different restaurants in plastic," she said; it was the first thing that came to her mind. She wasn't even sure if that was even the right answer or close to it but Tamaki seemed unconcerned and took it for truth.

"Oh!" he said, grinning. "That makes sense."

"How nauseating…" said Kyoya next to her on her left. Aria rolled her eyes and looked at him. He was analyzing his silverware, which looked clean but had a few watermarks on it, with a very pensive look.

Aria looked as though she was trying to shoot lasers from her eyes as she glared at him. "Is there a problem?" she asked in her calmest voice but she was not able to keep out her irritation with him.

"They really cannot expect me to eat off these, do they?" he said, lowering his knife to the table, looking mildly disgusted. "I am well aware that this heavily commercialized diner doesn't restock their silverware on a bi-weekly basis, or even monthly, I'm sure. If they ever expect to thrive as a franchise, they should at least make more of an effort to clean their dishware to an adequate standard."

The rest of the table did not seem to notice what was transpiring between him and Aria but she did not want to bring any attention to it anyways. She bit her tongue; between being hungry and incredibly tired from the plane ride to Texas, Aria had zero patience for a spoiled, narcissistic brat who's head was so over inflated that she swore it could float off his body.

Kyoya stood up. "I'm going to speak with the manager…" he said casually.

Aria immediately took a hold of the front of his shirt so he wouldn't go anywhere, her eyes dark as they always were when she was speaking with him. "Non ci penso nemmeno _(Don't even think about it)_," she said crossly, unsure why she spoke in Italian.

Kyoya raised an eyebrow; he did _not_ like being told what to do, especially by this girl with no class and propriety. He was going to spit back his own fire but he caught Tamaki's pleading look. He realized that the table, and several others, were watching the pair with great interest.

_Damn you, Tamaki…_Kyoya thought. He paused, eyes meeting Aria's for a brief second, before he grudgingly sat back down into his uncomfortable seat. She released his shirt, and he smoothed it over with a very cross expression.

"Let me make something very clear," she said, her voice low and in Italian. "Just because you're wealthy and you're good looking, doesn't necessarily mean you're going to be treated with respect or you're going to get what you want, Kyoya-senpai.

"Here, if you act like a narcissist, you're going to get yourself into more trouble. That goes for everywhere in the world. The poor envy the rich…and most of the time, they hate your high-class ways…because you all come off as arrogant and think you're better than anyone else. So can you just act like a commoner for one hour?"

Kyoya had nothing to say to this apparently, as he didn't reply. Aria was grateful that he did because she wasn't very sure she was ready to be in all out war of words with him.

Thankfully, Mori and Haruhi caused no trouble; Mori just sat there in his usual silence, playing tic-tac-toe with Honey once Aria explained it to them.

And that was breakfast.

Aria usually wasn't so rude to Kyoya but she wasn't about to have him run off to a manager just to complain about watermarks on his knife. Even though they never seemed to have a pleasant time interacting with each other, and it was usually some sort of argument, she never behaved in a manner like she had at breakfast…but he needed to learn when there was a time and place for things.

_Rich people…_she thought with a roll of her eyes.

They finally made it into the ship. The captain was waiting for them, a man of his mid-forties with graying black hair, with a gentle smile on his face.

"Welcome aboard the _Beauty of the Seas," _he said. "I'm Captain Erikson. We will be disembarking promptly at 2pm and the time now is 11:30am."

Kyoya spoke briefly with the captain, about whatever. Aria, however, was distracted with the how enormous the ship was, as was Haruhi. They both stopped looking around to glance at each other with wide eyes. Aria counted her blessings; she never thought she would be on a trip like this.

After that, Kyoya led them to their suites, which was on the floor below the deck. There were a total of twenty suites but there were only eight guests aboard, so the others would remain unused or given to the crew if Kyoya decided so. The first two rooms on either side of the hall were Mori and Honey's. Both had been decorated to fit their personalities; Honey's had stuffed animals galore all over the bed.

The next two were Tamaki's and Kyoya's. Then the twins, and then the two girls.

Unlike normal cruise liners, there were no locks that required card access; these doors required thumb print recognition to open the door. After several minutes of programming their door locks, they were allowed in. The twins had to program both their thumbprints into the system since the both of them would be in and out of both rooms.

Like Kyoya stated, all of Aria's luggage was in the room and unpacked. She found that slightly irritating because she did have underwear, obviously.

Haruhi immediately disappeared into her room, very interested in taking a long nap away from the Host Club. One by one, everyone left the hallway. Aria, however, hadn't even gotten past the stairs because she was in awe of the suite.

It was two stories like it showed in the brochure. From her sight, she was in the middle of the room. On her right, were the stairs leading to a loft area, which was where a giant bed was waiting for her, with a closet, a dresser, and a door leading to the master bath. On the floor she was on, a living room with a suede couch facing a huge flat screen. Below the flatscreen…was a gamer's heaven. Every gaming console and game that was worth mentioning or buying was in the case below the flatscreen, plus the entertainment system had surround sound. There was also a pool table, a little area where there were books so she could read, a small dining area, in case she wanted to eat or something…even though she was sure that there were cafés open 24/7 on the ship, and there was a huge balcony which was facing the water.

_Wow…_she thought. She was sure that wasn't even half of what was in this huge suite that could be the size of a less fortunate person's home. It was just too big to house only one person.

"Is it to your tastes?"

Aria jumped, the voice a lot closer than she liked. She turned her head and saw Kyoya standing about five steps behind her. "I'm pretty sure that no matter where you go in the world, it's polite to knock before you walk into someone's room," she said.

Kyoya was surprised the normal acid tone she had in her voice was not present. She had spoken more playfully, like she had when they first met. He vaguely wondered why; it was clear that she was fed up entirely with him at breakfast.

He ignored the statement. "If you are in need of anything, there is a phone here and one up in the loft so you can call room services. They are well aware that they are at our bidding so please make use of them," he said, turning towards the door.

"Senpai?" she said behind him. He slowed to a stop just before the door and he turned to look at her.

"Yes, Aria?" he said, his tone flat with no emotion.

She smiled at him. "Grazie _(thank you)._"

Kyoya stood there for a moment, as if he was taken aback or deep in thought…or both. A wry look played across his face before he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Prego _(you're welcome)_," he replied in Italian, smirking. Aria wondered why the hell he was smirking.

It was silent between them for a moment; she wasn't certain if he was expecting her to say anything. Aria averted her eyes away, suddenly uncomfortable under his gaze. However, he broke the silence first.

"I'd suggest you get some rest. I am sure you're worn out from jet lag. We will meet out here in the hall at 1:45 to go over emergency procedures before the ship disembarks."

Aria said she understood and he shut the door.

She didn't understand Kyoya.

Was he bi-polar? First, he was nice, then he was callous, then he was back to being kind again, only to go back to being a jerk again. And now…pleasant again? He came off so…princely when she initially met him…. Aria didn't remember what triggered her to start constantly bickering with him or why the hell he was always forcing himself to be kind to her when she _knew _he didn't even like her. Aria always called him out on it too. She could see right through that stupid mask of his and whenever she caught him faking, he would immediately drop the act and turn into Ice King again. Which was fine with her; she would rather him just be real with her than to act like he actually enjoyed being in her presence.

She wondered what the motivation was for him to keep pretending like he wanted to talk to her. A lot of the time, he would initiate conversations, trying to be pleasant, and flashing her gentle smiles…to which Aria snapped at him to tell him stop wearing the mask. She could see it in his eyes; they were distant and cold.

She wasn't going to lie…there were times when Kyoya would be a gentleman and be kind and sometimes, it would catch her off guard, making her stomach do a back flip. She hated that feeling.

And though at first, him talking to her in Italian was irritating, she found herself occasionally letting herself slip into speaking it around him. Even though they constantly were at odds, usually debating about something, she felt like their ability to speak to each other in another language was…a way they bonded.

Aria rolled her eyes to herself. _Still not impressed, _she reminded herself as she climbed the stairs to take a severely needed nap.

She didn't bother to pull off the comforter and instead collapsed onto the bed and shut her eyes. The pillows were softer than she could have ever imagined and Aria immediately buried herself in them.

_And then…there's Kaoru…_she thought absently as she drifted into a dreamless sleep. A smile creeped across her lips before she was out completely.

* * *

I think…I have competition after all.

Or at least, I was hoping I was horribly wrong…but I don't think I was as I watched Kyoya-senpai shut the door to Aria's room. A pang of a foreign feeling shot through my chest at the fact that he was in there alone with her but that quickly disappeared. The look on his face was unmistakable, even though if someone had cornered him, he would deny it until his death.

He was attracted to her.

I'm not surprised by it. I figured one of them had to be attracted to the other for them to behave in the ways that they do. They were like two small children sometimes.

I wasn't sure just _how _much he was attracted to Aria he was though. I know that her allure to me was intense…but I don't believe that was the case for Kyoya-senpai. I think that he may feel he has standards to uphold or that he may be in denial that he even likes her.

Who knew…?

All I was concerned with now…was that he was my competition.

Which, let me be clear…I have deep respect for senpai. I always have and I always will…but I have pride too and I don't want to lose.

Kyoya-senpai caught me watching him from my doorway. "Oh, Kaoru," he said, sounding vaguely surprised. "Did you need something in your room that we missed?"

He stopped walking. "Nah," I replied, feeling myself smile. "Everything's good."

"Glad to hear it," he said, the slightest smile of his own on his own face. "Remember, 1:45 we meet out here for emergency protocols."

"Right," I said in understanding. Kyoya-senpai then continued to walk and placed his thumb on the lock. "Hey, senpai."

He paused.

"Did she like everything?" I blurted out. Shit. I had to recover. "I mean, Aria isn't use to this sort of stuff."

There was that damned look again while he pushed up his glasses like always does. I wondered why he didn't just get contacts. "I'm fairly sure she is already making use of the bed, as should you, Kaoru."

I don't think that really answered my question but he shut the door to his room and left me standing alone in the hall.

I didn't like this feeling…but I understand _exactly _how Hikaru feels when the boss and Haruhi are with each other. I didn't like how my chest would burn even though I wasn't sure why it was doing it. It was a strange feeling…in a weird way, it made me hate Kyoya-senpai. Not real hate but I just felt like…he shouldn't intrude on territory that wasn't his to begin with.

He didn't even like Aria in the beginning! What changed?

The unfamiliar feeling was too much for me, and I opened the door to Hikaru's room. My feet dashed upstairs to the loft area, where I found my twin passed out on the bed and I crawled under the covers. I placed my back to Hikaru while I stared out at the balcony area, which was facing Houston right now.

Here…I felt safe.

Because here, I was still needed…and still wanted. Our personal bubble…our world. Hikaru and Kaoru. That's how it always was and how we will always be.

"Took you long enough," groaned Hikaru from behind. I felt him roll over and throw an arm around me. I smiled to myself.

"Sorry, Hikaru," I replied quietly, shutting my eyes. He pulled me a little closer.

At least…if I have to go through this strange ache in my heart…I won't go through it alone.

* * *

I do not think any of them paid any attention to the emergency procedures that the Captain and a few crewmembers tried to explain. They had led us out over the deck to give us the directions we needed but from the moment they were on deck, they lost interest.

Honey-senpai just seemed excited to wear the lifejacket, the twins were…well, being the twins by pulling on said life jackets so they'd blow up and basically playing bumper humans by colliding into each other before falling to the floor. Mori-senpai was silent, as usual, listening to Honey-senpai go on about what would happen if they were to have to actually use the lifejackets. Tamaki was pretending like he was paying attention but I knew perfectly well he was just watching Haruhi and Aria stand out and gaze across the water. Those two didn't even try to appear attentive either.

Well, if the boat sinks, at least the crew and myself will be fine. The rest of them…good luck if they make it out alive.

"Wow!" said the twins. "That was totally boring!"

I made a quiet noise of irritation and took off my life jacket.

"Kyo-chan," said Honey-senpai, gazing up at me. "Now what can we do!?"

I hoped this wasn't going to be a reoccurring sentence for the entire vacation. This ship was built for people with short attention spans, like Tamaki and the twins, so it should be impossible for any of them to become bored while we were out at sea. Although, knowing them, it was entirely possible.

"What ever you want, senpai," I said with a smile. "I forgot to mention. The itinerary says that tonight is our first formal night. Dinner starts at 6:30 in the Serenity Dining Hall."

Tamaki leapt up in joy. "Haruhi and Aria are going to get dressed up!" he exclaimed, gripping my shoulders and peering at them from behind me.

"Wait, already!?" said Haruhi aghast. It was clear she wasn't pleased at the idea of having to dress up so soon into the trip.

Aria, on the other hand, did not look all that upset about the notion.

"Oh, and by morning, we will be in Nassau, Paradise Island," I cut in before anyone else could comment on how the girls were going to be dressing up.

I, for one, did not have much of an interest in what the girls were going to look like. Not that I was blind to human beauty when I saw it but I just was not overly fascinated, if at all, to know how Haruhi and Aria would appear tonight. I do not wish to stereotype myself into the category of men who needlessly thought of human desire.

It was decided, since the girls were going to need time to get ready for dinner, that we would visit the aquarium on the deck above crew quarters. The aquarium took the entire floor and it was more of scenic touch than anything. It housed all types of fish, some from the depths of the water where sun can't reach, others from the Caribbean itself, or from the artic regions. It was really for show but…I guess it was a nice little exhibit aboard the ship. It was not that impressive to me.

There were a few couches and chairs along the tanks of fish. In a way, it could be a peaceful place to sit down and read in. Although, I doubt I'll get much reading in. Maybe I could come and do some budget work for the club down here if I get the chance to be alone. Hopefully, Tamaki will be able to entertain himself with the others.

"Oooh," said Honey-senpai when we entered. "Takashi, look at all the glowing jellyfish!"

Honey-senpai started tapping the class.

"Mitsukuni," said Mori-senpai in his low voice. "Don't tap on the glass. You'll scare the fish."

Honey-senpai looked vaguely put out but agreed to not do it again. "Look, Usa-chan! Those jellyfish are so little!" he said to his stuffed bunny rabbit.

Aria however, was staring up at Mori-senpai in shock. "I think that's the first time in a month that I've heard Mori-senpai say more than one word at a time…" she said to herself. I held down a smile.

Everyone sort of dispersed into different directions about a minute later. Tamaki pulled Haruhi away, talking rapidly about all sorts of nonsense that he is known for. Haruhi didn't look too pleased about being dragged away from the group. Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai stood staring at the jellyfish in silence. Well, no. Let me rephrase that. Honey-senpai was talking incessantly upon Mori-senpai's shoulders. Mori-senpai, however, was as silent as ever.

The twins were with Aria, looking at the different fish through the glass. They were picking on her about something, I didn't know what but she shot back a scathing remark at them and it rendered them speechless for a moment.

I stood, leaning against one of the tanks, not interested in any of the fish. Actually, I really felt this was a waste of my time. I could name off at least five things I'd rather be doing than meandering through this aquarium.

"Aria, watch this," I heard Kaoru say. He rapped on the glass rather hard and all the puffer fish in the tank puffed up in shock. He and Hikaru both burst out laughing at the sight.

"Kaoru-kun," Aria hissed, swatting his bare arm. She didn't seem all that concerned though as she turned to him. They shared a smile together.

And then I felt it.

This strange burn…in my chest, where my heart was. I felt…surprisingly angry as I watched her and the Hitachiin brothers laugh at the puffed out fish, especially as Aria gave her grin directly at Kaoru.

I knew exactly what I was feeling. I knew the name and I knew the general reason why I was feeling it. The only issue I was having…was why _now?_

As I stood there, feeling more and more…_jealous_…I hated to even think the damn word…I let myself come to terms with something.

Aria…had a strange effect on me.

I wouldn't dare say it was love. No, definitely not…but certainly…a fascination, at the very least. Aria was different than any woman I've encountered. She didn't know her place, and that was strangely…appealing to me. She had ambition, drive…and wit that was quicker than anyone I've met.

At first, this actually repulsed me to her. I had been raised to only want to have a woman who was quiet, loyal, and obeyed what she was told from her superiors.

But who _really _wants to order around someone they love?

Then again, love was a wasteful pursuit. In my world, you don't marry for love, you marry for gain. Love only came from a mother to her sons, or a sister to her brothers, but never have I seen someone marry another out of love. No, it was always arranged, always meticulously planned so that both families could reap enormous benefits from the other. That's how it always is in the world of money.

But when Aria would reprimand me or attack me with her words in Italian, I enjoyed snapping back at her in the same tongue. I liked…that no one else knew what we were saying, be it arguing or otherwise. To me…it was a bonding mechanism for the both of us.

That aside, she saw through the mask I wore. She always knew when it was just a game and she called me out on it on more than one occasion. Aria refused to let me pretend to be nice to her.

I suppose…she preferred the real me.

I still stood there, my arms crossed, and leaning against a tank full of Great Barrier Reef fish, watching the twins and Aria. I was always one to absorb myself in my thoughts. Most didn't disturb me…unless your name was Tamaki. But I continued to observe.

The three of them kept looking at the puffer fish, which were now relaxing again because there was no sign of real danger, when she glanced over in my direction.

And smiled.

That was perplexing. She rarely ever smiles at me, but she has been doing that a lot today. Confused, I turned to see if Mori-senpai or Honey-senpai were on the other side of me. They weren't; they had moved along ahead of the three of them, I assumed. So, I looked back over at her and she had a highly amused expression on her face, one that made me think she was laughing at me.

"Stop being such a loner and come look at the fish!" she called with that grin that was…making my stomach clench slightly.

I would not allow myself to feel this way.

However…I found myself unfolding my arms and letting a slight smile play across my face while I walked over to her and the Hitachiin twins.

"Senpai," said the twins as I came up. "Did you see this?"

Both twins rapped on the glass, making the puffer fish puff again. The three of them all started laughing again, as if it was the most hysterical thing in the world.

But…when Aria looked up at me with those emerald eyes that were brimming from tears because she was laughing so hard, I felt myself chuckling quietly with them.

I think…I'm going to leave the mask in my suite for now.

* * *

"Stop whining," Aria laughed over the noise of blow dryer in her hand. She was drying Haruhi's hair, since they just took a shower to get ready for dinner. After another few minutes, Aria was finished and she sprayed a little hairspray on Haruhi's head.

Haruhi stared at herself in the mirror. Her brunette hair was a little more voluminous now, shaped more feminine than boyish. Aria pulled her bangs back with a light blue clip. "All right…now go get dressed," she said. "Then I'll do your make-up."

"You said you weren't a girl…"

Aria snorted. "Last I checked, I'm still very much a girl," she replied sarcastically. "Look, just because I don't play up my feminine side doesn't mean I don't have one. I'd like to think I know a thing or two about what girly girls do in their free time."

"Dress themselves up like dolls?" offered Haruhi, playing with her hair, which felt lighter than normal.

"Yes," replied Aria with a short laugh. "Just be happy I do. Otherwise, I'm sure the twins would have someone to come help with that."

At this Haruhi shivered. She shooed Haruhi out of the bathroom and started blow-drying her own black tresses and glancing at the clock. She decided she go with waves today and did her hair accordingly since they had about twenty minutes to be in the dining hall.

After both girls were in their matching white dresses with different colored sashes, Aria sat Haruhi down in the bathroom with a towel on her lap so makeup wouldn't stain the dress.

"This is completely unnecessary…" she groaned as Aria was brushing on her foundation. "We're just going to dinner."

Aria smiled, stroking her make-up onto Haruhi's forehead. "I thought I told you to stop whining."

"Right…" Haruhi said, miffed. "Just don't overdo the make-up."

"How about you just trust me?" laughed Aria.

Haruhi was seriously freaking out about this and Aria didn't really know why. Maybe she was just embarrassed by the notion of looking so pretty.

Aria gave Haruhi an accentuated natural look. She put neutral eyeshadow tones on her eyes, a little amount of eyeliner, mascara, and gave a lip stain that was slightly more red than her natural lips. Her cheeks were a rosier color too.

"Aww, don't you look cute?" said Aria, proud of her work.

While Haruhi stared uneasily at herself in the mirror, Aria quickly did her own make-up. She gave herself a smokey eye effect, playing up her emerald eyes with darker shadows and put her mascara on. She left her cheeks relatively the same shade as her skin, only adding a touch of blush, and only placed clear gloss on her lips. She didn't want her eyes to lose the drama so she left her lips the same lush color of red-brown.

There was a knock on Aria's door.

"Mori-senpai is here."

Haruhi tore her eyes away from her reflection. "Mori-senpai?"

"I asked him at the aquarium to come and escort us to the dining room," explained Aria as she slipped on her heels. "I didn't think he'd be the type to flip out at the sight of us."

Haruhi put on her own heels, shorter in height for her own safety. "Kyoya-senpai wouldn't have freaked out."

Aria's laughed…only to cover up her strange wave of nervousness that crashed on her. "But…it'd just be awkward with him escorting us," she said going down the stairs.

"Because Mori-senpai is so much less awkward," Haruhi said sarcastically. Aria didn't have anything to say to that as she opened the door.

Mori looked very dashing in his formal attire. All he had was some black slacks, nice black dress shoes, and a white button down underneath a black vest and tie.

"Ready?" he asked in his monotone voice.

"I think so," said Aria with a smile. "Haruhi, hurry up!"

"Sorry, I can't walk in heels…" she said awkwardly walking up to them. Aria was not able to hold back her laugh, to which Haruhi glared at her for.

They shut the door and they walked down the hall towards the elevator. "You both look nice…" said Mori abruptly when they reached the glass elevator.

"Thank you," said Aria, grinning at him.

"Thanks…" Haruhi said darkly, unconvinced.

Mori gazed down at the both of them.

"You look very handsome yourself, senpai," Aria said. "And thanks for escorting us. Tamaki-senpai or the twins would have totally freaked out."

At this, Mori smiled slightly. "You're welcome," he said.

This was the most Aria had _ever _heard him say in one day. She was happy that he actually spoke!

They went up a floor and just before the reached the dining room, Mori offered his arms for them. Aria understood and took his left, holding onto his forearm. Haruhi, at first, was confused by the gesture, but she saw Aria and took Mori's right forearm.

_He must feel like a pimp, _Aria thought to herself, making herself grin.

Two men dressed similarly to Mori opened up the dining hall's doors for them and they entered.

In the pit of her stomach, she felt nerves kick up. Why the hell was she so nervous now? It hardly made sense of why she was anxious to step out in front a few boys all dolled up.

They walked in from the doors and into a room with a high ceiling and two fancy chandeliers, the room obviously meant to hold a large number of people. From the landing, there were two stairways that led to the dining area below.

"Wow…" was all Aria heard from the men on the floor below, who were all gazing up at the three of them on the balcony in what looked like awe.

_Damn you, nerves…_she thought. _Damn you._


	6. Alone

**Chapter Six: Alone**

As they reached the bottom of the steps, Haruhi and Aria released their holds on Mori's arms. Haruhi was clearly more uncomfortable of the fact that they were all staring at them more that Aria was…but she also was a little unnerved with their heavy gazing.

"You all catching flies, or what?" Aria snapped, referring to how some of them had their mouths open slightly because their jaws went slack. "Jeezus, you guys act like you've never seen a girl before!"

At this, they all came out of their reveries and a few laughed. "You two are so pretty in your matching dresses!" squealed Tamaki, attacking them both. He brought them into a tight embrace. "Aww, daddy is just _so_ proud my baby girl has a new female to companion to show her-"

"Boss," said the twins. "You're suffocating them."

"Oh."

He released them quickly and they both gasped for air.

After regaining her breath, Aria looked at the other boys. They all were wearing what Mori was wearing. Black slacks, black dress shoes, a perfectly white button down, and a black vest and tie. They all looked strikingly handsome, minus Honey, who looked utterly adorable.

"Why the hell do you keep calling yourself 'daddy?'" Aria asked, eyebrow raised at Tamaki. "It's really creepy."

Tamaki opened his mouth but the twins cut him off again.

"Not as creepy as him calling Kyoya-senpai 'mommy,'" they said in their unison.

Kyoya rolled his eyes, though he did not display any expression of annoyance. "You're the ones who play along with his game by insisting on referring to us as husband and wife…" he said flatly.

"That doesn't exactly answer my question," said Aria.

"It's just Tamaki-senpai's weird habit," offered Haruhi. "That's why I'm his daughter. We're his family."

That…made sense. Aria glanced at Tamaki, who was staring blankly at the group, as if he was lost in thought. She realized that she was the only one who noticed his far off gaze, one that Tamaki looked both saddened yet happy. Aria wondered what he was thinking.

"Let's eat!" exclaimed Honey before she could say anything to Tamaki, who finally blinked. His glazed over look vanished.

The girls went to take a seat and the boys stood around at the table, waiting for them to sit first. Haruhi took a seat near the head of the table she was about to sit but Tamaki pulled out the chair for her. There was a momentary pause where she glanced at Aria, who was fighting a smile, before Haruhi rolled her eyes. She sat down in the chair, with a little less grace than she probably could have managed and Tamaki pushed her chair in. He then sat down next to her and Honey.

Aria took a seat near the middle of the table and across from Honey and Mori, with Kyoya pushing in her chair in for her. She barely managed an appreciative statement to him before he sat at the chair on her left and on her right, the twins sat down, with Kaoru closest to her.

Dinner turned out to be excellent, though that was expected of a cruise liner owned by the Ootoris. The waiters were kind and the four-course meal, consisting of their choice soup and salad, then delicious filet mignon, shrimp, and vegetables, and their choice of dessert, was amazing. Aria was never one for steak but this…she found was beyond amazing; she figured they must have marinated it for hours before they cooked it. She preferred her steak on the slightly rarer side and was surprised she wasn't in need of any steak sauce to go along with it.

Kyoya was unexpectedly pleasant again…Aria wondered what was the reasoning behind it. She could tell that some of his kind gestures were slightly forced but not enough for her to tell him to stop being fake. She did not want to cause trouble in front of the others either, so she held back some of her remarks.

_This is guy is strange…_she thought feebly, sipping on her water.

Kaoru also was quite attentive to whatever Aria needed, which threw her off guard. When she had mentioned, more to remind herself, that she needed more water, Kaoru quickly tracked down the nearest waiter and asked for it. Or when she couldn't decide which of the four soups and three salad choices of the night to pick, Kaoru went in great detail about which ones he thought were better so as to help her choose. He also made sure she was satisfied with her filet mignon, pressing her if it was cooked to the state that she desired and if she was not at all satisfied, he would get her a new one.

Aria quickly told him that it was perfect, though amused at his focus on her having a delicious dinner more than even taking a few bites of his own salad, let alone his steak.

"What are we going to do in Nassau, senpai?" asked Haruhi to Kyoya when the waiters took away their main dish.

The whole table turned to him expectantly. He glanced around at everyone, seeing that they obviously were under the impression that he had planned the entire trip down the very hour.

He sighed and pat his lips with his maroon cloth napkin before speaking. "Whatever we want to, really," he said, pushing up his glasses on his nose. "Just because I take care of the Host Club's needs during school hours, but that does not entitle me to map out this entire vacation…. That's why this is called a _vacation, _for those who actually need some rest from their stressful schedules._"_

Aria quietly chuckled to herself, seeing the slight irritation in his gray eyes. "He has a point," she said. _Although, I'm sure Haruhi and I are far more stressed than he is…._

Kyoya glanced at her, but she wasn't looking in his direction. She was looking past Honey at the windows where the sun was starting to set.

"You can do whatever you want until your heart's content," Kyoya continued, pulling out his signature black notebook for reference. "For example, if Tamaki and the twins wanted to go the beach, they could go to Cable Beach, while the girls could visit Dolphin Cay Atlantis to swim with dolphins. Mori-senpai and Honey-senpai could go to Aquaventure, which is a water park…while I can-"

"We are not splitting up!" shouted Tamaki, standing up and attempting to look like he was some sort of heroic leader. "This vacation was planned to bring our family closer than ever before, and now we have the lovely Aria Auditore to join in on our escapades! We will not separate when we are on land. I may allow us to do our own thing on the ship but _not _when we dock."

There was an awkward moment of silence after his mini-speech. "Why do you have to yell everything you say, senpai?" Aria asked abruptly, eyebrow raised at his strange behavior.

The twins and Haruhi laughed at the statement, understanding where it was coming from. Tamaki looked at Aria with a bit of a lofty expression. "So as everyone will hear what I have to say! My dignity as the club's leader is frequently ignored by _these _two," he was shouting, pointing his steak knife at the twins, who looked bored.

"They don't listen to you because you just like to hear yourself talk, Tamaki," cut in Kyoya before the twins said anything. "Even I ignore your rants from time to time."

Aria was pretty sure Kyoya ignored Tamaki's rants_ all _the time but she only laughed with the twins as Tamaki went into a dramatic state of depression. He sank to his seat and Haruhi rolled her eyes but Aria could see she was holding down her own amusement and remarks.

"I listen to you, Tama-chan!" offered Honey with a cute smile.

Tamaki smiled weakly at Honey but said nothing. However, it didn't take long for him to get out of his dramatic little emo corner.

Dinner was quite lively now as they received their desserts. (Honey kept ordering more cheesecake until finally Mori told him that he had had enough. Honey didn't look too dissatisfied with the order but asked if Usa-chan could have another slice.) It was decided that the group was going to visit Dolphin Cay Atlantis and Aquaventure tomorrow. The boat would be docked at eight in the morning, to which the club would be leaving the ship at the latest eight forty, after breakfast. According to Kyoya, they had to report back to the ship by seven o'clock that night so the ship could leave in time to make it to the next destination the day after.

Tamaki refused to let Kyoya tell the group of where they were docking next but he seemed very excited about it.

Aria sat rather quietly as the whole group discussed about swimming with dolphins. Haruhi was saying it would be cool but Aria could tell she was a little nervous about the idea of swimming all together. Aria wondered why, fairly sure that Haruhi knew how to swim. She was sure there would lifeguards on the premises too.

_Must be the issue of a bathing suit, _Aria mused idly. _That must be why she sounds uncomfortable._

At least the day tomorrow was going to be filled with exciting stuff. The thought put a smile on her face.

* * *

I opened my eyes to the darkness around me, the figure lying next to me in bed tossing and turning. Hikaru never really slept in one position for too long. It honestly drives me crazy with how much he moved. I've mentioned it more than once to him, but he gets in one of his prideful moods if I tease him too much about it. But Hikaru wasn't what woke me up tonight.

My stomach was the culprit.

Yeah, so what? I was hungry. I glanced at the clock; it wasn't that late. Only a half past one in the morning. We had decided to hit the sack early so we could get up in time for tomorrow's big day in Nassau. Hikaru and I didn't fall asleep until about eleven or so.

I snuck out of bed and picked up my shirt off the floor. I threw it on as I went downstairs, put on my shoes, and opened up the door to leave. I paused, checking that I had some sort of appropriate bottoms on. I did; just a pair of Ouran gym shorts.

Thank God there was a 24-hour café open on the top deck. I headed towards the elevator to go to the next floor above.

At the last second, I turned to the stairs near it. A little exercise never hurt anyone.

I walked along the top deck, the open air rushing around me and I found the café. When I approached it, I saw a guy with earphones stuck in his head, sitting and looking incredibly bored.

I'm sure the crew on this giant ship _was_ unbelievably bored. If this ship had patrons of a real cruise liner, than I'm sure I'd be standing in line waiting for a slice of pizza because there were other men who were starving in the middle of the night…but the only people on this ship that weren't working were the eight of us.

At least they're getting paid for easy work.

The guy saw me and jumped up, as if this would make him less noticeable to not working. I didn't care. I just wanted my slice of pizza.

And so I told him…in English.

I was still a bit rusty with my English but…it wasn't my first priority to work on it. After he handed me the slice of pepperoni I asked for, I pulled out two US dollars and threw it at the tip jar. He thanked me and I went on my way to walk along the deck with my beloved pizza slice.

Other than the noise of the wind, it was peaceful up here under the stars. I looked out over towards the bow of the ship and saw the almost full moon shining brightly, casting a white sheen on the black waters.

Hikaru and I…are drifting.

He wouldn't notice it…because it's not by much that we are drifting apart. But the mere fact that we like two different girls is a sign enough that we aren't all the same. Haruhi was the first to notice that though we look completely identical…our personalities were actually quite different.

Like the two days we faked a fight just so Haruhi would let us visit her house. Haruhi had pointed out that Hikaru…was more stubborn and outspoken. I would pride myself in being much more calm and more levelheaded than my twin, despite being reminded I was also younger.

Oooh, big deal…by a minute and twenty-six seconds. Hikaru won't ever let me forget it. The thought made me laugh to myself though.

Aria could see it too. I know she enjoyed spending time with the both of us…but I also have a feeling that she enjoys my company over Hikaru's. Or maybe I'm just hoping that's the case. Maybe I'm reading way too much into her actions…. Maybe I should….

Wow, I'm pathetic.

It didn't matter to me though. I liked her. The end.

I chewed the last bite of my mini personal heaven and stood at the end of the deck, where the front of the boat was. I watched the water dance with the moonlight for a moment before I looked down idly.

About four floors down and at the front of the boat, was a figure leaning against the guardrail and looking at the same water I was. It was girl from the looks of it.

She had long hair that was whipping about her from the wind. Her hair was very dark…probably black.

My stomach clenched at a thought. What if that was Aria?

I stood, rooted to the spot for a moment, before my feet, with minds of their own, took off towards the stairs. The sound of my pounding shoes made the guy at the café spring back up again, thinking I was coming back for more or something but I didn't even bother to glance at him as I passed. I sprinted across the deck like a mad man and took the stairs two at a time down four levels. Elevators were a waste of time when you're in a hurry. I almost tripped and fell down in my haste; that would have ended horribly and would have been humiliating.

Wait…why am I running?

Even though I wondered why, my feet didn't listen and kept sprinting down the corridor of the boat. I was running because if it _was _her, I didn't want to miss this chance. I wanted to be able to talk to her…without anyone else around. It'd be the first time….

I found an automatic sliding door that opened for me to reach the outside of the ship and the bow of it.

Stop running!

I forced my feet to slow down before I rounded the bend to see if it was really Aria. I didn't want to look like an idiot, running in on someone, possibly from the crew, and her alone time.

My heart pounded at the sudden burst of exercise as I walked around the bend. But I knew that it wasn't just hammering away because of my small bit of running. It was beating hard for a completely different reason.

I inched slowly and peered out to see if it was the girl I was searching for.

It _was_ Aria.

She was dressed in some dark yoga pants that cut off at her mid calves and a thin tank top. She was barefoot while she leaned her forearms on the guardrail and stared up at the moon. I have to admit, as horrible as it may sound, but her attire hugged every part of her body closely and it was difficult for me to not let my eyes linger below her waist.

Aria didn't see me approaching her and I reveled in the moment of watching the light of the moon shine on her face. The wind and the rushing water below us muffled out my feet on the deck.

She smiled up at the moon and I stopped walking towards her. I never really thought beauty could stop me in my tracks…but that peaceful smile was more than enough to stop my heart for a few seconds. I wondered…what she was thinking about.

* * *

"Aria?" I said as I was a few feet away from her.

She leapt up in fright at the sound of someone saying her name.

Aria turned, eyes bright with the sudden adrenaline rush and she found Kaoru standing there, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he said with a slightly embarrassed grin.

She couldn't help but laugh.

"Where's Hikaru-kun?" Aria asked, peering around him to see if he was still making his way over to them. She thought she saw Kaoru grimace but upon checking, he wasn't.

"Sleeping…" he replied, standing beside her and leaning against the guardrail in the same fashion she was. "I was hungry so I went to the café on the deck to eat something."

She chuckled slightly. "Ah."

"Why are you up?" he asked after a moment.

Aria shrugged. "I had a lot on my mind…couldn't sleep."

Kaoru heard the sadness in her tone and wondered if he should press her to tell him what she was losing sleep over. He decided, however, that he would not pressure her at all and preferred the idea of her coming to him with her dark thoughts or secrets if she trusted him enough to.

"And, I don't know…" she continued idly, "I decided to walk around the boat instead of think myself to death…. I really enjoy solitude sometimes."

Guilt hit Kaoru straight in the gut. That was exactly what he didn't want to hear.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude on your alone time," said Kaoru awkwardly. He started to turn away but Aria gripped his forearm.

"You're a dork," she said, pulling him back. "I'd rather have your company than to wallow in my self-pity."

At this, he gave her a puzzled look, one she did not see. Again, he thought to ask her what she meant by that, since it seemed out of character for her, but Kaoru reminded himself that she had to come to him before he could pry anything out of her.

It was a little weird…for her to be completely alone with just Kaoru. She half expected to Hikaru to just appear from thin air to stand on her right and both of them start harassing her but…she knew he wouldn't.

Even though the twins were always with one another, she never had a hard time getting to know them individually. It was clear that though Hikaru definitely liked Aria, she could tell that Kaoru had more of an emotional attachment to her.

Something as simple as Kaoru texting Aria more than Hikaru was enough to show that Kaoru valued their friendship more. She wasn't saying that his twin didn't care about Aria…but it was obvious that Kaoru put more of an effort in. Dinner made that very clear.

They both gazed out over the black water, both quiet but not uncomfortable.

She liked that she could stand with Kaoru in silence and that could be enough for the both of them. It was never awkward…it never felt like someone should break the ice of silence. Aria just enjoyed being in his presence.

"Do you like the trip so far?" he asked, glancing at her.

She grinned out to the moon. "Yeah, it's been pretty cool already!" she replied. "I'm fricken stoked for tomorrow. Swimming with the dolphins is gonna be sweet!"

Kaoru laughed at her child-like enthusiasm, something he hadn't seen before. He thought it was cute though…even with her American slang that she threw into her speech.

"I'm excited too," said Kaoru, both sharing a smile.

They turned to look back out at the water again. Aria moved some of her hair that was flying into her face before she put her arm back down. Her bare arm brushed up gently against his but he didn't move away, enjoying the subtle closeness they had.

"You were really pretty today at dinner," said Kaoru.

Aria felt her face grow hot and a strange swooping sensation hit her stomach when he cast a gentle smile at her.

She had always thought the twins were handsome…well, the entire Host Club was filled with good-looking guys…but from the beginning, she thought that the twins and Kyoya were the best looking of the bunch.

Aria never really fell for the "brotherly love" act, although some of the lines and stunts they pulled did make her burst out laughing because it was so awkward. And even though they constantly picked on her and called her "their pet," she enjoyed spending time with them.

Especially Kaoru.

He always took the time to help her order food at lunch and always ask for help in French even though Aria had a feeling he knew what he was doing. If either of the twins needed _real _help in French, it was Hikaru, not Kaoru…. She'd always catch him looking at her in class too. Whenever she would snap a _"What?" _at him, he'd just grin and poke fun at her before getting Hikaru to join in.

But this weird feeling in her stomach was only something that happened when she liked someone. There weren't many boys that had attracted her attention over the years, if really any at all. She had turned down a couple offers to be a girlfriend of whomever all throughout middle school. Sure, she was a girl…she had her share of crushes…but nothing really serious or worth the effort to go after.

She wasn't sure if she was admitting to liking Kaoru…but he did cause strange sensations in her stomach and kicked up nerves every time he smiled at her like that.

He realized she was staring blankly at him and he thought he said something wrong. "Not that you're not always pretty!" he assured her, waving his hands in an effort to get his point across. "I just meant it was cool to see you extra pretty at dinner in a that really cute dress you and Haruhi matched."

Aria blinked before she started laughing. "Kaoru-kun," she said, her emerald eyes twinkling. "I get it. It's cool."

Kaoru stopped waving his hands around nervously. "Oh…" he said lamely.

"But thank you. That's flattering."

The silence settled over them again. Kaoru pretended he was watching the water but in reality, his focus was at the corner of his eye on Aria.

It was a little chilly from the wind and he noticed her skin starting to grow goosebumps. Kaoru wished he had some sort of jacket but he didn't.

"We should go back inside," he suggested. "You're cold and we should probably get some sleep."

"I'm not cold!" she said defiantly, barely holding down a shiver. Kaoru laughed at her obstinacy.

"Quit being so stubborn," he said, turning to leave. He glanced behind him to see if she was following. He saw her give one last look at the moon before she trailed after him.

The walk back to the elevator was quiet, as well as the ride up three floors.

When they arrived at their suites, Kaoru stopped at her door. She turned to him and smiled gently. "Goodnight, Kaoru-kun," she said, before bowing to him. Kaoru couldn't help but roll his eyes, but in a good-natured way.

"I'd prefer a hug actually," he said, smirking widely at her when she was standing upright again. Aria made a noise of amusement.

"Fine," she replied with a small smirk of her own.

There was that sensation again in her gut; it was much stronger this time as he embraced her. The hug was tight, but not suffocating like the ones Tamaki gives when he is excited about something.

This hug…put her at ease because it was so warm.

"Sleep well," Kaoru said in a soft voice before releasing her.

"You too," she said, before laughing. "Don't have too much fun with Hikaru. You _do _have neighbors."

"Oh ha ha, you're a comic genius," he replied dryly but she saw the smirk widen on his face. She watched him walk to his twin's room and pressed his thumb into the lock before she went into her own room.

Kaoru glanced back at her, catching sight of her leg disappearing behind the door. His smile deepened…and he went inside.

* * *

Nassau was gorgeous.

It had beautiful, pale sand beaches and the clearest, most pure blue water Aria had ever seen. Sure, she remembered going to some beaches as a child in Italy and they were just as pretty…but there was just something more that Paradise Island had. The sky was dotted with very little clouds and sun was warm on their skin.

"We're heading to Dolphin Cay Atlantis first," said Kyoya over the oohs and ahs at the scenery. "I went ahead and scheduled out today, at least partially, so we had some sort of general planning."

Aria understood why. If there wasn't at least some order to the day, then the Host Club would go crazy and try to do everything at once.

They climbed into a limo brought for them. After everyone was inside and seated comfortably, Kyoya spoke again.

"Normally, the program at Dolphin Cay only allows 30 minutes of water time with the dolphins, be it in the shallows or deep swimming. However, I booked a three hour time span, an hour and half each for both the shallows and deep swim," he explained. "Thereafter, we can make our way to Aquaventure or eat lunch."

Aria smiled. "What would we do without you, senpai?" she teased, glancing at him. He did not return the smile but sort of just gazed at her.

_Oh great…_she thought. _He is back to being Ice King._

The time was eight forty-five in the morning. They were scheduled to start at Dolphin Cay Atlantis at nine o'clock and be done by noon. Aria figured they'd spend about five hours or so at Aquaventure, if that…so they'd be back on the boat by half past six at the latest.

Once they arrived at their destination, everyone hurriedly piled out of the car. The group walked into the main building, where they were met by a red headed, female employee of about twenty or so. Aria and Haruhi glanced at each other, waiting for her face to melt at the sight of the boys.

"Good morning!" she said brightly in English, eyeing the entire group with eager eyes. She barely noticed Haruhi and Aria standing with them. "Welcome to Dolphin Cay Atlantis."

"Good morning!" said Tamaki, the twins, and Honey just as enthusiastically as her and in English. Aria thought she might have heard Mori's low voice also in that mix…but she wasn't entirely sure.

Kyoya stepped forward. "Good morning," he said smoothly to the girl. "We're from Japan. They all understand English fairly well but lack the ability to speak it fluently and they all have the attention span of small children-"

"Hey!" everyone else said, a bit offended.

"-so to save you your sanity, you can just speak personally to me," Kyoya finished, ignoring them.

The girl didn't really seem to notice the others either as she and Kyoya walked a little ways away to continue to converse. The rest of the group went to have a look around in the small building, all talking with excitement about the idea of swimming alongside dolphins. From the sound of it, Honey was the most enthusiastic, but Aria could see the anticipation in Haruhi's eyes that she was trying to hide.

After a minute or so, Aria's eyes wandered purposefully towards the red head and Kyoya at her left.

The two talked for a few minutes in a very casual manner. They both started laughing and Aria felt her face go blank at the look of Kyoya's grin. Why was he giving her that look? He never gives anyone that look…ever.

Even from her distance, Aria could tell that the girl was flirting with him, both with physical signs and with whatever she was saying. Aria rolled her eyes.

The girl was _definitely_ was taken with Kyoya; she reached out to put a hand on his shoulder while stepping closer to him. Kyoya automatically took a step away from her all while keeping a pleasant smile on his face.

Aria's eyes grew dark.

She felt her feet walk towards the pair with somewhat of resolute way and a feeling in her chest she wasn't about to admit, even to herself. At about ten feet, Kyoya glanced at her before he stopped mid-sentence with the girl.

"I think if anyone she should be speaking to," said Aria, in a hard tone, "it would be me. I _lived _in an English speaking country longer than you've been able to speak it fluently."

The girl looked a little surprised at Aria's declaration and was speechless for a few seconds. "Oh…well, I was just explaining to him about orientation…" she said.

"Well," said Aria, not losing her almost condescending tone, "you can continue."

* * *

The red headed employee, Jessica, was _clearly _flirting with me. I had very little interest, if any at all, in her; I wasn't attracted to women who threw themselves at me. From the little I've analyzed from her, I already know that there would be no financial or personal gain from befriending her, let alone having a romantic interest in her.

I suppose she was attractive, in an ordinary way. There was nothing particularly striking about her…nothing that stood out to me…. She was not unattractive by any means, but I could not find anything remarkable about her appearance, or even her personality. That aside, she worked for Dolphin Cay Atlantis and that tells me enough.

But I am a Host Club member. It is our obligation to be kind to every woman we meet, regardless of monetary or social class.

"Well, aren't you just a gentleman?" she said, batting her eyes at me. I held down the need to scoff at her and instead, forced out my perfected fake laugh. The sooner I could finish this conversation, the better.

She laughed as well, a noise I admittedly found somewhat nauseating.

"I was raised to be a gentleman, Jessica," I replied smoothly. I saw a hint of blush hit her cheeks when I said her name. "Thank you for letting us book out Dolphin Cay in its entirety for three hours."

I knew very well that she had nothing to with our booking. I had talked to the manager of the place, not her, but I felt it was still necessary to thank her. Indeed, that seemed at least proper.

In her eyes, I could see the realization. She recognized that if we were able to book out the place for three hours, it must mean that we were wealthy, or at least I was. I don't think anyone would have noticed the subtle difference in her behavior at her revelation but I did…and immediately, I had no desire to play Host Club member anymore.

Truthfully, I despised women like Jessica.

Those that looked for money were wasteful human beings. My good looks, my status, my wealth…my lineage…whatever it is, should never be the reason that any girl should be interested in me. Even though I was raised to want a woman with the same life as mine…somewhere in the back of my mind, knowing that I'd never inherit the Ootori family legacy, I did not _want _a woman of my status.

I suppose that makes little sense coming from me. I was expected to chase after the money trail, to find ways to give the Ootori name more power, more security, more financial freedom. Whatever it may be, I was nothing more than the wealth that backed me, I was nothing more than the heritage I lay claim to.

In this world, I was not special. I was just a pawn in the game…my father's game.

And because of that, I would need a wife who would fit the mold. She would have to come from a similar background; one of class, of sophistication, wealth, and prominent descent. If she was not naturally stunning, everything else about her should be. She should be submissive, gentle, and quiet, never offering her opinion or advice to anything financial of the family. Nothing about her should be "common." And I would certainly never marry her out of love and desire. No…it would always and forever be…business.

"No, need to thank me, sweetheart," Jessica cooed, reaching out to touch my shoulder. I took a step back from her touch, feeling some anger at her judging me based on fiscal status rather than personality. It was strange how that was how I desired to be judged when I was home, but not outside of Japan.

"Either way, we appreciate the-" I was beginning to say. However, I came up short because from the corner of my eye, I saw Aria practically marching up to us, her green eyes shaded with what looked like anger. I turned to her, eyebrow raised.

"I think if anyone she should be speaking to," Aria said, making no effort to hide her irritation, "it would be me. I _lived _in an English speaking country longer than you've been able to speak it fluently."

She wasn't directing her aggravation at me even though she was clearly speaking to me. However, Aria was gazing at Jessica with a hard expression and with her arms crossed.

I could see in Jessica's eyes that she was also a little irritated, probably because Aria interrupted her "alone time" with me. But she remained silent for a moment. "Oh…well, I was just explaining to him about orientation…" she lied, glancing at me to see if I was going to give her away.

I was more distracted with what made Aria approach us with such a cross appearance on her face than being concerned with Jessica's small lie. Especially with the way Aria's expression would darken more while looking at Jessica directly. What triggered Aria to become so hostile towards this girl she didn't even know?

The reason hit me quite forcefully.

Aria was…_jealous._

I was extremely surprised with her…but in my surprise, I found myself gazing at her with a soft expression. The idea that Aria was jealous or defending territory that she may have felt was hers made me…

_Happy_.

Happiness…was a rather enigmatic feeling for me. It wasn't foreign…but _this_ sort of happiness or whatever it was…was unfamiliar to me. I am well aware that I'm known to be the cold one of the group, that I'm the "heartless tax collector," as Haruhi would say. I was never one for fun and games. I know that I treat everything as a business transaction or an opportunity to gain something and that the only relationships I created were the ones that I knew I'd benefit from, directly or indirectly…. I'm conscious of that I only cared about something if I had some personal or indirect profit from it.

But that's the way I was groomed…I had to work my way up in my family's eyes…in my _father's _eyes.

He wasn't impressed with my grades, as perfect as they are. He wasn't impressed with my ability to manipulate and sway others to do what I suggest. He didn't care that I could speak four languages fluently or that because of my management, a club thrives. He didn't care that I was exceptionally superior at mathematics, specifically when it pertains to accounting. He didn't care that, according to the rest of the family, I was the handsome one of his three sons. None of that seemed to matter to him…or electrify him in any way.

What pleased my father was veiled in mystery to me. Frankly…I was beginning not to care as much either, especially while on vacation.

But I _did_ care, at least somewhat…that Aria was getting territorial and quite irrationally, at that.

And somehow, if I were to call her out on it, she wouldn't admit to it. Then again, I doubt I would admit to my _slowly_ blooming attraction for her, even if someone had cornered me. Key word there was "slowly." She had a long way to earn my affection…just like any woman would. I'm not even familiar with what love is, let alone me being able to give it unconditionally.

That idea was amusing.

When did I _ever _do something or give anything unconditionally? I don't think that was in my nature. In any case, that's what I tell myself; I only help others if I'm going to take something away from it.

"Right, Kyoya?" said Aria's voice beside me. I let myself come out of my thoughts and looked down at Aria, who was eyeing me expectantly.

That was the first time she has ever called me by my name without an honorific attached to the end of it.

"I'm sorry…. Would you mind repeating that?" I asked apologetically. She grimaced slightly.

"I was _saying," _Aria said, placing emphasis on the last word to show she was annoyed with me, "that we're only going to be here until noon. We're going to eat lunch elsewhere, right?"

Both girls looked at me, waiting for me to reply. "Oh," I answered, smiling at her before looking at Jessica. "Yes, we're not going to be staying here for lunch."

Jessica looked put out but I was watching Aria from my peripheral vision. She was vaguely smirking. There was a triumphant expression in her eyes that made me want to laugh a little.

Aria was an intriguing person…

The air was filled with laughter, splashes, and calls from the dolphins. The Host Club and Aria had donned wetsuits and were now were swimming in the deep waters with at least twelve of the Atlantic bottlenose dolphins.

They had already had their time in the shallows and now were trying out the lagoon to see what other tricks the dolphins were capable of. The twins and Honey were especially popular with the dolphins because they were the ones who were willing to hold onto them and attempt tricks.

"Takashi, Takashi!" shouted Honey from the surface. "Watch this!"

He dove under the water with his snorkel and Mori ducked his head under the water to watch as a dolphin pushed Honey effortlessly through the water by his feet. Once resurfaced, Mori clapped, despite his face remaining entirely impassive.

The girls and Tamaki were using the water scooters to swim with the water creature while the twins were playing with some other dolphins, doing tricks underwater. The trainers taught them different commands earlier in the session, so that they would able to call or dismiss the dolphins, among other things.

"Don't be so boring, senpai!" called Aria when she saw Kyoya standing at the shallow end with his arms crossed. A dolphin was trying to get his attention but he was seemingly ignoring it.

"I'm not being boring," he replied nonchalantly, pushing his glasses further up his nose. "I just lack interest."

Aria rolled her eyes. She gripped the dorsal fin of a dolphin and held on tight as it swam in Kyoya's general direction. She let go when the dolphin turned direction to swim with Mori and Honey and some of its kin.

Just as Aria came up next to Kyoya, she stroked the dolphin he was ignoring. After a few minutes of playing with it, she dismissed it to go join the others.

"Why do you always have to act so detached?" she asked, pulling off her goggles and snorkel. Kyoya glanced at her as she tied her wet hair up into a ponytail.

"I don't understand what you're getting at," he said, narrowing his eyes. "What do you mean by detached?"

She chuckled and watched the others for a moment while they were having fun. "Aloof, cold, formal, indifferent…otherwise known as boring," she said teasingly. "Even Mori-senpai is enjoying himself. Don't you think you could allow yourself maybe just a little bit of slack-?"

"No," he said immediately.

Aria snorted at the instant reply. "You're going to die early from all that stress, senpai," she said still in a joking voice. "Do you even know how to have fun?"

Kyoya narrowed his eyes at her. "I know how to have fun."

At this, Aria scoffed, amused and unconvinced. "That remains to be seen," she replied, returning his expression. "You take life _way_ too seriously."

"I beg to differ," he said, turning his gaze back to the others. "…I operate differently than most."

She lowered her eyes to the water near her and smiled slightly. "Or…" she began in a unexpectedly softer tone. Kyoya looked at her once more, noticing the saddened expression she now held.

"Or?" pressed Kyoya after she didn't continue. She turned to him and her smile widened slightly.

"Or…you're afraid of what would happen if you actually were _you _and not the person you're expected to be," she finished.

She saw the shock that crossed his eyes momentarily. It was a look as if he had been caught doing something he shouldn't or found out by someone who shouldn't but he recovered quickly.

"Because you're suddenly the expert on those with masks…" he said sarcastically.

Aria didn't reply but glanced at him. He wasn't looking at her but out in the lagoon where the others were enjoying themselves. She wanted to say a lot of things…one of them being an apology for having been so hostile with him for the last month.

"Aria!" called Haruhi. "C'mon! Kyoya-senpai isn't going to join!"

"Come swim with us!" the twins shouted.

Kyoya rolled his eyes and Aria laughed at this.

"Well, sit here and be boring then…" she said to him, putting on her mask again. "But keeping others at a distance is only going to result in one thing."

Kyoya made a noise of dark amusement. "And what's that?"

She looked up at him and smiled almost sadly. "Stai andando a finire da solo _(you're going to end up alone)._"

With that, Aria waded out into the deep and then called a dolphin to give her a lift to the others.

Kyoya dropped his crossed arms. "Questo è un concetto interessante...a suo modo _(That's an interesting notion…in its own way),_" he said quietly to himself and smiling slightly.


	7. Aquaventure

**Chapter Seven: Aquaventure**

"That slide is calling my name!" shouted Tamaki at the top of his lungs while pointing at the building resembling a Mayan temple. There was a long slide at a near vertical slope that was rushing with water and half way down, it submerged under a shark filled lagoon.

"That would be the Leap of Faith, Tamaki…" said Kyoya absently.

"Who _cares _what it's called!" said the president. "We're going ride that slide!"

After Dolphin Cay, the group decided they would leave to eat lunch. Aria was secretly very pleased with this, especially since the last person they saw as they left the place was Jessica, the red headed employee that had been flirting with Kyoya. Aria, in spite of herself, had thrown a triumphant smirk in the girl's direction, which in turn caused the employee to glare hard.

Lunch was thankfully uneventful but only filled with enthusiastic chatter about what was awaiting them at Aquaventure.

From what Aria had overheard, normally on days when a cruise ship comes in, Aquaventure is extremely crowded. However, their cruise ship obviously only housed eight guests so Aquaventure would be quite peaceful with only the guests from the hotel Atlantis that were making use of the water park. That aside, it wasn't summer so there were also significantly less people in the park.

When the Host Club, and Aria, came to pay, her and Haruhi nearly had a heart attack at what the prices were to get in.

It was a $110 for an adult to spend the day at Aquaventure. Luckily, they were able to get away with Honey as a child, which the price dropped down to $80. (Author's note: these prices are, in fact, a reality….) The person at the window automatically assumed Honey was young enough and didn't bother to ask.

Kyoya handed the woman a credit card, the total amounting to $850 just for them to get in. Both Aria and Haruhi felt guilty for having them pay but they knew they could say nothing to the boys about it. Aria knew that if she even tried to offer up money, Tamaki would shut her down instantly.

"I think we should find some daybeds before we run off into different directions," said Kyoya while the twins were eyeing the slides that were side by side for a race. "The Baths Pool might be the best bet...although, I have a feeling it won't keep some of you entertained..."

No one really knew what he was talking about because none of the others knew anything about the park so they just followed him.

Honey was sitting on Mori's shoulders in deep awe at the park.

"This is so cool!" he exclaimed, thrusting his fists into the air. "Ari-chan, Haru-chan! Will you guys sit with me in the Lazy River?"

The girls agreed to it, especially since Haruhi wasn't very interested in going down any chutes. Aria couldn't be sure if it was the idea of the danger that could be with it that made her shy away or Haruhi just legitimately did not have any desire to go on them.

Kyoya led them around a corner and Aria heard some of her companions gasp and/or squeal at what they saw.

They were in front of an elaborate Mayan-themed water playground, obviously built for young kids, but Honey, the twins, and Tamaki were beyond ecstatic to see it. It had slides, fountains, and a giant bucket at the top that was filling with water, waiting to be dumped, cargo nets, and ropes to climb. It was a child's water heaven.

"Last one there is a rotten egg!" the twins shouted.

Aria gripped them by the collars with her eyes narrowed just as they started to take off. "Hold on," she said warningly. "We have to put our stuff down…then you guys have to put on sunblock…and _then _you can go play."

The twins groaned. "Yes, mom…"

The group found a place a little secluded from the curious parents who were watching their kids at play. They were wondering why a group of teenagers were coming to set their stuff down in a kid's area and some were wondering where their parents were.

Aria put down her bag on a chair.

She paused when she saw that the boys were taking off their shirts. Tamaki and Mori were the first to be shirtless. Aria willed herself not to stare at how incredibly fit they were. Mori was a little more brawny, but not by much; Aria guessed he gained his muscle from kendo practice. Tamaki was much more sinewy, but he had well-defined pectorals.

She glanced when she saw Kyoya begin to unbutton his white shirt and pull it off. Aria's face went hot. He was just as good looking as Tamaki as far as his body went; she forced herself not to stare.

So instead, she looked into her bag, found what she wanted, and turned to hand her SPF 50 sunblock to the twins. She half wished she didn't.

"Kaoru…" Hikaru was saying in a seductive voice, holding him close. "Let me undress you."

Kaoru averted his eyes away from Hikaru's. "Oh, Hikaru…" he whispered, while his brother reached for the hem of his shirt. "I was hoping you'd say that…but there are so many people watching us. I'm so self-conscious…"

Aria rolled her eyes in disgust, noticing that there _were_ others watching the group of them. She figured all the mothers and teenaged daughters were staring at the group of boys who just showed off how beautiful their bodies were. Some were in a state of bliss just watching them but Aria felt like gagging.

"They don't matter," said Hikaru, turning Kaoru's face to his again. "Just keep your eyes on mine and stare into a world of-"

"Knock it off," Aria cut in, separating the two of them by pushing them apart. "You guys are disturbing…honestly. Do you ever take a day off from being weird?"

"Disturbing isn't even the half of it," Haruhi said, sitting on the daybed beside hers. Aria agreed and sat down next to her.

The twins looked at the two girls for a moment before they smirked widely. _"So,"_ they said, leaning over to be eye-level with them, "did you two get your bathing suits?"

Haruhi and Aria exchanged glances.

"Because we brought some of our choices for you-" began Hikaru.

"-if you two didn't happen to have bathing suits," finished Kaoru.

They whipped out two swimming suits from who knew where. It was easy to distinguish which suit was for who, Haruhi's being a pastel pink two piece, the top containing major frills, and Aria's was a scandalous, silver one piece.

"What the hell is _that!" _Aria snapped, looking at the one piece Kaoru was holding up, his face wearing a wry grin. It was barely even a one piece. It had no backing, except the butt part, and it only had a slim piece of cloth over the middle of the abdomen before it went up to the breast part and it was a stringed halter.

"This one suits your figure the best," he said, winking. "It's cute, isn't it?"

"More like outrageous!" yelled Aria, though she could feel her skin growing hot even in the heat they were already in at his implication.

"And isn't Haruhi's just as adorable?" asked Hikaru, winking as well. "This color looks best on her and the frills will cover up the fact that she is flat as a board."

Haruhi immediately glared at him; she wasn't hurt by his statement for it was truth, but the fact that he was so brazen in saying it irritated her. Before either girl could strangle them, Tamaki shoved the twins into the pool, clothes and all.

"Hey!"

"You boys better stop sexually harassing my little girl and my baby sister! You should know better than that!" Tamaki shouted, standing in front of the girls as if he was protecting them.

"Baby sister?" said Aria, peering around Tamaki's body with a confused expression. "Wait, since when did this change of families happen and how come I wasn't informed?"

"Since now," replied Tamaki, turning to grin at her.

Aria raised an eyebrow. "Great…" was all she could say. Judging by the way he treated Haruhi as his daughter, she could only imagine how Tamaki's delusions would make him treat her as his little sister.

After a few more minutes of bickering between Tamaki and the twins, the twins finally got undressed and everyone put on sunblock, other than the girls, who hadn't undressed yet.

Aria had never seen teenagers act so childishly…well, Mori aside. Tamaki, Honey, and the twins were standing with seven little children, staring up at the bucket that was about to dump a bunch of water down on them. Mori was standing on the sidelines, acting more as lifeguard than anything, while Kyoya, Haruhi, and Aria were laying on the daybeds.

Well, Kyoya wasn't really lying down; he had his chair in an upright position, without any glasses (he had taken them off in case he decided he would go in the water…although, Aria doubted he would), and reading.

"I'm gonna go get changed," said Haruhi, giving Aria the look to come with her to the bathroom. Aria stood up and followed her to the nearest restroom.

"I thought you're bathing suit was under your clothes…" she said as they entered the girl's side.

"It is…" admitted Haruhi. "I just didn't want to undress in front of them. They get all weird when they see me acting girly."

"How is undressing and being in a bathing suit girly? That doesn't make any sense," said Aria with a laugh. "And I don't know why Tamaki-senpai insists that I'm turning you into one."

Haruhi shrugged.

They pulled off their shirts and shorts. Haruhi's bathing suit was a simple, light blue two-piece. The top was a tied halter and the bottom was a bikini (no ties). She had a very slim figure and she was quite small chested, typical for Asian girls. Aria, on the other hand, had a similar halter, two-piece in black, but on the left breast and on the butt of the bikini (also no strings or ties) was a red spider-web and spider.

"Ugh…let's go…" said Haruhi after putting her stuff in her bag. Aria knew why she was so hesitant. It wasn't because she was smaller chested or otherwise uncomfortable with her body…but it was because she was going to be attacked by Tamaki at the sight…and the twins would probably join in.

Aria felt some of her apprehension too. There was just something nerve-wracking in the idea of being in the presence of eight very good looking boys in next to nothing. It was like wearing underwear around them.

Sure enough, when they approached their chairs, there was a collective scream.

"They're so cute!"

Aria was not sure how cute would describe two girls in bathing suits but she heard Haruhi let out a defeated sigh as the twins, Tamaki, and Honey all rushed to them. Thankfully, they were more enamored with Haruhi, because they didn't think she was going to come out in such a cute bathing suit. This allowed Aria to inch away unnoticed from the giggling boys, and a highly annoyed Haruhi.

Aria set her bag beside the day bed, rummaging through it to find her sunglasses. After she found them, she slid them on and went to sit down.

Her eyes caught Kyoya's two day beds away.

But as quick as she saw him looking at her, his eyes were back on his book. Aria smirked to herself. His eyes weren't moving; he was only staring at the page, pretending to be reading. She decided not to say anything though as she positioned herself to lay on the bed and closed her eyes, listening to Haruhi beginning to snap at the others.

"Go play in the water, jeeze!" she yelled. Haruhi ungracefully collapsed in the chair next to Aria.

"Ariaaaa! Haruhiiii!" whined the twins along with Tamaki.

"Won't you please join us in the water playground?" asked Tamaki.

"No way," the girls said in unison.

"But it has water cannons!" said Hikaru.

"No way."

"And we can go down the slides together," added Kaoru mischievously.

"No way in hell," the girls said flatly.

They finally left the two girls alone seeing that they weren't going to join in on the fun in the kid's playground.

About a half hour later, Aria opened up her eyes from a half-asleep state. She glanced over and saw Kyoya was missing, his book on the chair along with his towel, shirt, and glasses. Haruhi was still sitting on her daybed, soaking in the sun.

Aria took out her headphones to her iPod and paused her music before sitting up. She skimmed the playground where she saw Honey climbing through the rope tunnel while getting hammered with water from the twins from the water cannons they were using.

"Hey, where'd Kyoya-senpai go?" Aria asked, stretching her legs.

Haruhi didn't open her eyes as she replied. "I don't know. I didn't see him leave," she said apathetically. "He probably went to the bathroom or something."

Aria stood up. "I'm going to go get something to drink from the snack bar," she said, pulling out her own debit card from her bag. "You want anything?"

Haruhi opened up her eyes. "Can I…" she hesitated.

"Anything you want, my dear," Aria laughed.

"Just a bottle of water…if that's okay?" she said, a nervous smile on her face.

Aria smiled gently, hoping that would reassure Haruhi that she didn't mind buying her things. "Water it is. Anything else?"

Haruhi shook her head, and glanced at the twins who were shooting water at Honey and Mori from the cannons. "No. Thank you though."

"Duh," replied Aria, turning to leave. She saluted Haruhi playfully. "My pleasure."

She put on her sandals, pausing to debate with herself if she wanted to wear her boardshorts. Aria decided against them, only because the sun was still beating down on them pretty hard. Even though she had put on sunblock, she was Italian…she was going to get very tan from the trip and she didn't want to have a weird boardshorts tan. After her small inner monologue, she went to go find a snack bar or something similar to get her drinks.

* * *

I walked back slowly from the bathroom, feeling the sun linger on my skin as I walked by groups of people. I'm glad I spent the extra time to liberally put on sunblock, otherwise I'd burn to a crisp.

I already knew full well that the whole Host Club was going to arrive back in school with healthy tans, especially Aria; I wondered just how dark she would be by the time we were done with the trip. But as far as the Host Club goes, I'm sure our tan skin would attract the ladies even more to us at the academy for a while. It would be a novelty to them. I chuckled very briefly to myself.

Another thought crossed my always-thinking mind that caused my somewhat pleasant mood to drop a bit.

This trip drained our budget…so much so that I was fairly concerned with how I was going to build our resources back up again in a timely manner. Of course, the club receives regular donations but that would not cut it. I was going to have to come up with a way to generate more money.

Perhaps…if I take pictures and/or videos of the Host Club, I could sell them online to the girls or create another picture album. The picture books did quite well last time; I'd have to purchase a camera and have Aria take pictures of all of us. If I remember correctly from the initial research, she had an interest in photography, though I believe it was relatively minor.

After a little thought, I was set on it. I was going to purchase a point and shoot camera at the one of the shops on the promenade in the ship as well as buy a video camera for us too. Since it was about the Host Club, I'd just have Aria be the one shooting the camera and taking the pictures. I hope she wasn't going to mind but our funds were nearly depleted. If she did not willingly oblige me, I would play the guilt card so she would cooperate. That tends to work with her.

A little child ran past me, causing his anxious mother to run into me. She apologized and I smiled very slightly at her and told her it was no trouble before she ran off with her son. I continued to muse.

Aria's behavior at Dolphin Cay still, strangely, satisfied me…and still had an effect where thinking about it would result and me smiling idiotically to myself. When I would find myself in that expression, I immediately returned it to my natural look, not wanting to be questioned by someone like Tamaki as to what was pleasing me.

"The bucket is about to dump again!" I heard Tamaki shout from the kid's area all the way from here. It cut through my thoughts like a warm knife through butter.

"Moron…" I said to myself, but not in a callous way. I was more amused by the obnoxious laughing coming from the young kids (and yes, this includes the Host Club children as well…) than anything.

I rounded the bend to the children's playground and saw some parents laughing to themselves about how much fun their children were having with the Host Club members. I suppose I understood how they were feeling, in a small way. I was…content with the knowledge that everyone was enjoying themselves, including Mori-senpai, who was always so emotionless that it would unnerve me if I hadn't had such a similar personality in that aspect.

I fully expected to see Haruhi and Aria still laying out, catching the sun's rays but to my surprise, Aria was gone.

"Haruhi…" I said once I was within earshot, checking the play area to see if she had joined the others. A quick scan revealed that Aria wasn't there. Perhaps she went to the restroom and I missed her completely. "Where did Aria run off to?"

She looked up at me and I thought I saw her smirk…but I wasn't sure because it was so faint. It took her a moment to answer me. "She went to find a snack bar to buy water."

"Is she paying with her own money?" I asked, still not sitting.

"Probably…" replied Haruhi. Her tone suggested she was confused as to why it posed a problem.

Irritation.

I wasn't precisely sure why my aggravation with Aria flared but I dug through my pants on the daybed and found my card. I turned on my heel to leave without saying anything else.

Did I not specifically state that this was an "all expenses paid" vacation? Was she deaf? Or was Aria trying to aggravate me until my wit's end, because she was exceedingly good at that. She is perfectly aware that she cannot and _will not _pay for anything this trip.

Why did she insist on paying for things? Like for buying her and Haruhi's formal dresses. Tamaki had said she had spent 320,000 yen…. Where did she even have that kind of money to toss around for something as ridiculous as dresses? Well, I knew that answer actually. She _did _live an upper-middle class lifestyle in America and both her parents made six figures a year separately…. I already knew that she was sent money every two weeks and that she stored it away, saving for any emergency purposes.

Buying formal attire was _not _an emergency purpose…and declining reimbursement by Tamaki…was foolish. However, Tamaki was more obstinate than most would realize. He had asked me to speak with her parents since she refused to listen. After a conversation with them about the situation, and why their daughter would not be home for winter break, Tamaki was able to wire the money back to the Auditores. This in turn, would be transferred into Aria's account.

I wondered when she was going to notice more money in her checking account.

I scanned the relatively small amount of people for a water-park as I passed them. None of these people looked familiar. I was looking for black hair in a high ponytail. Black two-piece bathing suit with red spider-webs…on a teenaged girl who was slightly taller than average and had semi-tan skin from her Italian lineage.

No one was fitting the description I was looking for, despite my relentless effort. Red bathing suit, yellow one-piece, overweight, stick thin, too pale, hair too short, too dark, Asian, Hispanic, too old, too young…male…blonde hair…unattractive. Damn it! Where the hell did she wander off to? When I find her, she was a dead girl.

I'm fairly sure it was vanity that was making me search for her so urgently. I _genuinely _didn't want her to have to pay for anything; even it was something as little as water. There was a small part of me that was annoyed because we were the wealthy ones; when we say we would take care of anything involving money, we meant it. _I _meant it.

I let my eyes flit back and forth from each girl who relatively fit the description that I saw…but none of them were in her particular bathing suit. Unfortunately, in my haste, I did not put on my glasses so anything at too great a distance was a bit of a blur. The glasses were more for show; I could easily do without them and wear contacts but I liked the image of class and intelligence it gave me. At the moment though, I wish I would have had them, for it would have saved me some trouble of mistaking other girls as Aria.

And so, I kept walking until I saw a sign that showed food not far off. I picked up my pace just slightly, ignoring the stares from several of girls as I passed by. I was use to this kind of attention but I was suddenly very aware of the giggling that was happening around me; I had been so intent on finding Aria that I had not noticed that many wide-eyed gazes on me.

I walked by a group of young teenaged girls, careful as to not make eye-contact with any of them as they were whispering to each other.

"E-excuse me!" one girl called after me; her voice had shook just slightly. It was clear she had to work up the courage to say anything. I ground my teeth together in the heaviest irritation before I turned to her and flashed her a calm smile.

"Is there something wrong, miss?" I asked in perfect English. This girl, and her two friends, all blushed heavily. None of them were attractive, though it was evident that the one who had stopped me thought she was. One was a little more overweight that the other two and the third was so plain in appearance that I barely noticed her at all. I found myself critiquing them unconsciously and I forced myself to not be so analytical of their appearances. They weren't worth the trouble.

"No," the first girl said, sounding nervous but slowly gaining confidence. "We were just wondering if you would…like to join us on one of the-"

"I'm very sorry," I cut her off, not having time for anything such as gallivanting around the water park with girls who were just going to be incredibly awkward around me anyway. I faked my perfected smile at her. "I'm actually trying to find someone at the moment. She didn't tell anyone where she went off too. Thank you for the offer though. You ladies are too kind."

I could see the disappointment in their eyes, especially at the mention of my search for a woman; perhaps they thought I was speaking of a girlfriend. The plain looking girl had a look of an epiphany or something similar and opened her mouth.

"We could help you find her!" she offered in a voice incredibly high pitched, which threw me off for a moment; I was not expecting her voice to hit octaves that high.

I chuckled lightly and they all looked like they were going to melt; I, however, was aggravated that they were wasting my time. The more time I spent chatting with these girls, gave more time for Aria to pay for something. "That is quite a generous offer but I would not want to rob you of your time when you could be enjoying it elsewhere. I am sure she is around here anyways," I assure them. "I truly appreciate it though. Have a wonderful day, ladies."

They merely giggled to themselves as I turned to leave. The second my face was out of their sight, I dropped the smile and continued to walk. That was a mask of class if I ever had one as I sat here mentally berating them for just getting in the way.

It took me about six minutes to reach that sign that had a picture of hamburger on it, not including the deviation from those young girls.

Scanning the two lines of people, I found her, and I had half a mind to march right up to her and reprimand her in front of everyone.

She was squatting down, talking to a group of children consisting of four boys and a young girl. There were two couples in front of her, who I deduced as the parents of the children Aria was conversing with. I could not hear anything that she was saying to them since I was too far away, but the children burst out laughing.

Aria reached out with a laugh of her own, tapping the young girl on the nose before she turned a sudden offended expression to one of the boys. I could tell it was mock offense; there was a lot of playful banter going on before an unmistakable "EW!" came from three of the boys. This caused Aria to laugh as she rose to a stand.

So…she was good with children. That was a highly endearing quality, at least, it was in my eyes.

And I had to admit…as painful as it was to admit it just to myself…but Aria was very attractive. I had known this from the beginning, but had not been at all impressed until last night when she was in her formal attire. The air of elegance she had was surprising. Now this…in her bathing suit.

She was well proportioned with a lean stomach and toned legs and arms. It was obvious she had some sort of regular physical exercise that kept her in shape; I wondered what that was. Her bathing suit accentuated all the right curves-

_Stop!_

This was not me. I do not care what the stereotype was about men because I certainly never fell into it. I did _not _look at women this way…ever. I don't even have the time for woman anyways. Regardless if she was attractive, it is just not my way of thinking. I pride myself in knowing I have had self-control for my entire life. I was not going to lose it because I was slightly fascinated with some foreign girl.

"Not impressed" as Aria would say.

Focus on the task at hand, I was telling myself. She is going to pay something…she isn't allowed to do that. I took a step forward, heaving out a sigh; she was exhausting.

"Now _there's _a sex goddess if I ever saw one…"

My entire body froze instantly at the voice about three yards behind me. I turned my head slightly to find a group of three young men, maybe in their early twenties all gazing in one general direction. Automatically, I began scrutinizing them with the darkest of glares, all of them entirely unaware of me presence. Immediately I took notice that none of them were good-looking, other than the fact they were heavily tanned, most likely the product of going into a tanning salon, and built with a bit of muscle. Nothing about these men stood out to me that would say they were more than average, if that. If I took a guess, I figured they were the pathetic accuses for wealthy people…the ones who did nothing for their class and sat around, soaking in money but never aspiring to add to their wealth or to their family's name. They were the rich brats that received whatever they wanted, when they wanted, and were never expected to work for it.

These people disgusted me as much as women like Jessica did. Where was the ambition? Where was their refinement? Where is the prestige in all that entitlement?

One of them was pointing.

My eyes followed in the direction he was indicating; I felt my chest go up in flames because he was pointing at Aria, who was oblivious to the whole ordeal because she was still talking to the kids.

"Daaamn," said the shortest one of the group, eyeing her up and down. "She's fuckin' hot, dude."

"Mmm, fine piece of ass right there!"

I glowered at them but they still didn't have the slightest idea that I was watching them. Unexplainable anger erupted in me and I realized I had every desire to gouge out their eyes because they were practically undressing her with them…not that there was much left to undress. If that wasn't enough, they were speaking of Aria as a piece of meat or as if she was territory to be claimed. She was not a trophy to be placed at their sides.

"If she only knew what I'd do to her in bed!" laughed the other, possibly the foulest one. The thought of what he was saying disgusted me to a degree I did not know was possible for me.

"She's the Goddess of Fuck," said the guy who had spotted Aria first.

"Hell yeah," the other two said with a laugh.

They continued to talk for another minute about Aria and how "hot" she was before they started speculating, and in great detail, how good she probably was in the bedroom.

I have never felt anger quite like this before. On second thought, I have once…when I was with Tamaki and how I had thought he was so lucky to inherit the Suoh family legacy because it was basically just handed to him. I had been wrong about that.

That was the kind of fury I was feeling now boiling in my blood. How dare they speak of Aria in that context? They know nothing of her…about the kind of person she was…. How can they call themselves men when they speak of women as prizes?

I clenched my fists in an effort to remain calm, which was proving to be much more difficult than imaginable.

"I'm gonna go talk to her," said the first guy, causing my anger to spike to rage. His two friends grinned and encouraged him, telling him if she turned him down, they'd go talk to her too.

This is _my_ territory.

"The hell you are…"

* * *

"…you'll just have to prove these boys wrong then, right?" Aria was saying, tapping the girl playfully on the nose.

The child beamed at her. "Right! Girls can do the same things boys can!"

Aria opened her mouth to say more words of encouragement, but one of the boys cut in quickly. "Yeah right. Girls are never good at video games!"

"Excuse me!" said Aria aghast, with a mock expression of offense, as if the boy severely wounded her pride. "That is definitely not true. I can hold my own in video games quite well. I've beaten plenty of boys, men even."

The boys did not look convinced. "Oh _yeah?_" said another boy, eying Aria skeptically. "Prove it!"

"Yeah prove it!" the other boys chimed in.

Aria chuckled, looking at the three boys of one couple, and the twin brother and sister of the other couple in front of her. Before she had arrived, the boys had been running around unchecked and picking on the young girl.

"All I know is that you boys better be nice to her. One day, she is going to grow up and kick all of your butts at Halo or COD or whatever the heck the games will be by then," said Aria with a wry smile. "And when she does, you three are gonna fall madly in love with her and fight over her. And then one of you will win her heart and marry her."

"EWW!" shrieked the boys in unison, causing Aria to laugh again as she straightened to a stand.

"No way!"

"We would never do that!"

"Gross, we're never getting married!"

This continued on for the next minute, Aria winking secretly with reassurance at the little girl next to her, although she did not look too fond of the idea of getting married either.

"All right, settle down now," said one of the fathers, casting Aria a grateful look. "You boys are getting too rowdy."

The wife turned, both parents holding trays of food for their brood. "Thank you for keeping them entertained. We really appreciate it."

The other set of parents thanked her, with a little less enthusiasm. Aria didn't mind, however. She really just wanted to get out of the sun and under the cover of the canopy to buy her water. "Oh it was no trouble really. They're great kids."

Aria waved goodbye to all the kids with a smile on her face. They all waved back before they turned and took off towards the seating area, clearly excited to eat. Aria chuckled briefly. She had always quite liked kids; she enjoyed the honesty they possessed and a true curiosity for the world around them because they hadn't been tainted by life's inevitable issues. She preferred babies and toddlers over older children, but kids always had been comfortable in her presence.

Aria was about to turn to the window to buy the water but she stopped to do a double take. Kyoya was striding purposefully up to her, a dark look in his eyes.

"Senpai?" Aria said, perplexed.

"There you are, sweetheart!" he said in a bright voice louder than necessary even though he was relatively close to her now. Aria stiffened on the spot in complete confusion but before she could recover, he leaned over and kissed her gently on the forehead.

Her heart leapt to her throat and her stomach rolled painfully.

"You can't run off like that without telling me, beautiful. You worried me," he said, still speaking in a voice a little too loud to be normal. "Go ahead and order what you want. I'll pay for it."

Aria was absolutely stock-still, wide-eyed at his behavior when she watched as he looked like he shot a death glare behind him before turning his gaze at her.

"Or not," he said, noticing that she had made no move to the counter. Kyoya flashed a reassuring smile, but Aria was not blind to the shaded anger in his eyes. He turned to the man behind the counter, purposefully placing his hand at the small of her back and pulling her closer to him. His fingers brushed lightly against her skin, causing Aria stomach to fill with a strange sensation. "May I just have two bottles of water, please?"

He handed the man his card and looked at Aria. "You look baffled," teased Kyoya with a light chuckle, as if everything was completely normal, his arm still around her.

Aria struggled to find her voice because she was too confused to speak. She was quite sure the heat was getting to her and she was hallucinating this entire situation and if it wasn't a dream, then the heat most certainly was affecting Kyoya. After a moment, she was able to spit out some sort of response.

"What the heck are you doing?"

Aria noticed he kept glancing over his shoulder, his relaxed look immediately growing dark and surprisingly territorial. She turned to see what he was throwing glares at but he stopped her by taking her chin into his long fingers.

Kyoya directed her face to look into his and he leaned over. At this, Aria's heart nearly exploded into a frenzy. He did not lean in to kiss her but instead placed his lips near her ear and spoke in a low, angry manner.

"I will explain in a minute, as long as you follow my lead."

She didn't have a chance to demand anything of him because he was already speaking to the cashier. Kyoya pocketed his credit card before he handed her a bottle of water and took the other. He thanked the man at the counter and turned away, lacing his fingers with hers.

Why the _hell_ was Kyoya holding her hand?

He practically dragged her along, Aria barely able to keep up his hard pace; he obviously was determined to be somewhere. The pair passed by three guys, all tan and built in muscle, standing near a Mayan based sculpture, watching them intensely. Aria met their eyes, and she immediately averted them away, feeling uncomfortable under their gazes. She noticed Kyoya's grip tightened and she glanced up to find him glaring very directly at the other males until his head could turn no more.

Once they past the three guys completely, they turned to stalk off in the opposite direction, muttering under their breath and throwing backwards glances at the pair. Once they disappeared around a corner, Kyoya released her hand, agitated and silent.

It took a minute for Aria to find her voice again.

"What the _hell_ was that about, senpai?" Aria snapped, finally able to get over her shock and let out some blind anger. She knew that being angry was pointless but it stemmed from being completely embarrassed and uncomfortable.

He glanced at her. "Nothing."

"Nothing, my ass!" she cried, pushing his shoulder to make him stop walking; normally, she would never lay a hand on him but she was too heated to think. "If that was nothing, then I'd be scared to see what the hell what '_something' _was."

Kyoya chuckled dryly, in spite of himself. He _did _say he would explain what his actions were for.

"Those men…" he paused, attempting to remain indifferent. "…I overheard them speaking of you in a, rather frankly, offensive manner."

It was silent for a moment, one where Aria only blinked. "What do you mean…?"

Kyoya shot her an irritated look. "You're an Honors Student at a prestigious academy and you can't figure out what I'm referring to?" he snapped, glancing behind him to see if those guys were following them. They weren't and he remembered to rein in his emotions and keep a level head.

Aria rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Okay…" she said, sounding unconcerned. "So, they were talking about me in a probably less than charming context. It's not the first time."

She did not expect Kyoya to narrow his eyes at her as if she was suddenly the problem.

"Aria," he said, his tone quavering along the line of detached and angry. "You are a woman and a relatively attractive one at that."

He paused when she snorted at the statement, skeptical that he believed what he was saying. She did not believe Kyoya thought she was pretty or any other form of the word.

"Those poor excuses of men saw you only as a trophy, a prize to be won. They did not value you for anything more than the appearance of your body and face. You were not a person in their eyes; you were territory to be claimed. The very words coming from their lips were repulsive and inappropriate, especially when they began speculating your abilities in a bedroom setting. If I had not stepped in, they would have come to you, harassed you-"

"I would have been able to handle it, senpai," she snapped, offended that Kyoya thought her helpless and that she somehow needed _his _aid.

Kyoya made a short noise of annoyance. "You are not listening to me," he said tersely. "You are in a bathing suit; you are wearing the equivalent of lingerie yet somehow society has made this acceptable anyways. You cannot run around alone without being in the company of someone else. You being alone is asking to be harassed by idiot men. At the very least, you should have brought along Haruhi, although that is not the best choice. To ensure your safety on this trip, I suggest you keep in the company of Mori-senpai, Tamaki, myself, or even Honey-senpai to escort you around."

He decidedly excluded the twins because they would have been more trouble than help to her.

Aria held an indignant expression. "I can handle myself," she repeated stubbornly.

"I do not doubt that," he snorted. It was obvious he was sarcastic.

"Why do you even care?" asked Aria. "Why go through all this trouble when you don't even like me?"

There was a momentary flash of emotion in his usually guarded eyes, one that she couldn't place. It took him a moment to reply, and she realized she caught him off guard with her statement.

"I don't…" replied Kyoya, detaching again.

She wasn't sure which question he was replying to, though she assumed it was the first one she posed.

"_Right_," said Aria with her infamous roll of the eyes. "That whole act of pretending you're my loving boyfriend was done because you actually _don't_ care that I was being checked out, and potentially hit on, by three guys. What was I thinking? Of _course _you did that because you don't care."

Kyoya fought but lost the battle to letting a smirk onto his lips. "I don't know if I appreciate your sarcasm."

Aria shrugged and returned the look. He turned away and started to walk back towards the kid's playground where they came from. She watched him for a moment, and laughed quietly to herself, before she jogged after him.

"Don't wander off without one of us again," he said once she caught up.

"Yes, master," she replied with a sigh. Kyoya ignored her.

"And I thought I made myself clear; you are not paying for anything throughout the duration of the trip. Whatever it is you desire, we will give you. Just ask."

"_Yes_, master."

"For the record, Haruhi received the same lecture from Tamaki. I expect you do not let it get to your head that you are somehow special," said Kyoya, avoiding a couple that was oblivious to their surroundings by separating for moment from Aria.

"Yes, master…" she said while fighting a smile.

"_Shut up_."

"Yes, master," Aria repeated, holding back her amusement because he finally lost his formalities with her.

Kyoya looked at her, irritation rising in his throat again; she knew how to press every button he had without even trying. She was worse than Tamaki sometimes.

She laughed good-naturedly when she noticed his half glare but she also didn't miss the vague smirk forming at his lips either.

Aria finally realized he wasn't wearing his glasses; she was surprised he found her at all without them. She figured that his glasses were more for the look than anything, because it seemed like he could see fairly well without them. The glasses always gave him a classy, refined vibe to him. Now, without them, he looked a little younger, but just as good-looking. The strangest word came to her as she looked at him.

_Dangerous._

Aria laughed to herself and he eyed her. "What's so amusing?" he snapped.

"Nothing…" she said, smirking. Kyoya eyed her but did not reply, annoyed with her too much as it is to want to know what she was thinking. That aside, they had just turned a corner and made it to the playground again.

They approached the rest of the group, who were all toweling off a little. Aria handed Haruhi her water and swiped the other bottle from Kyoya before he had time to drink out of it, as he was doing that moment.

"Where did you two run off to?" asked Tamaki, a strange sort of smirking smile on his face. Both Aria and Kyoya didn't notice the look and separated, as if they were sick of each other.

Aria sat down on her daybed. "I was thirsty…"

She left it at that, having no desire to explain what had just transpired even though Haruhi picked up by Aria's expression that something _had _happened between them.

Honey climbed on the end of Aria's bed, looking excited. "Can we go on the Lazy River now?" he asked, gripping her legs with enthusiasm. "I think it'll be super fun!"

Aria cast a glance at Haruhi. "You better get your ass up and come with me," she said. "You can't just sit here all day."

Haruhi smiled, nodding for a second. "Ready when you guys are!"

"Let's go!"

* * *

Confusion.

That was what Aria was feeling as she lay in her bed at one in the morning. She struggled to find a good position to sleep in but she was too focused on all the foreign emotions running through her veins.

She let her thoughts drift back to her day on Paradise Island.

Dolphin Cay had been very entertaining for her; she had never had the chance to swim so closely with dolphins before and Aquaventure, after her strange episode with Kyoya, was just as enjoyable.

Aria liked going around the Lazy River with her friends the most. There was a sense of tranquility that rested over the group for some time. Even the twin were not so rambunctious in the beginning. That is, until they started a splash war with Tamaki and used the enormous flotation tubes as cover. Mori and Kyoya didn't use any of the tubes, they just walked with the current of the river and Aria chose to go without one as well, preferring to float at the surface of the water and stare up at the sky. Honey had taken a hold of her hand a while later and sparked light conversation.

When the twins had had enough of Tamaki yelling at them, they moved onto their next target to bother. Haruhi made it very clear to leave her alone, and the twins had no desire to pick on anyone who would not give reaction, such as Mori.

So instead, they kept kicking water into Aria's face until she was annoyed.

It had gotten a little out of control when Aria flipped both of them off their inner tubes in quick succession into the river. Both of their heads came up to the surface with devious smirks on their faces; Aria knew what those looks meant and she tried to get away, but that meant attempting to swim upstream against the current. That proved more difficult than she imagined even though the current wasn't that strong…so they tackled her from behind and they plunged back into the water.

The splash war then became a wrestling match.

Half the time, Aria was on one of their backs, trying to push them into the water but they were stronger than they looked and would flip her off of them. Once we were tired from their play fighting, they sat on their own inner tubes and Kaoru pulled Aria up to sit on his inner tube with him, the pair worn out from the struggle. The tube had a harder time floating but Kaoru and Aria were too distracted to notice because they began a poking war.

The twins raced each other down the Challenger Slide more times than she could count; Hikaru ended up winning more than Kaoru. Aria was glad it turned out that way though, because Hikaru was more competitive than his brother…so she was sure he would have gotten butthurt if he lost to his twin. Tamaki forced everyone to try the Leap of Faith slide too. Aria really enjoyed it, even though the spray of water made it difficult for her to see the shark lagoon the slide goes into halfway down the slide. Haruhi and Honey decided to pass on the slide at the last second after Mori went.

After that, the group made their way to the tidal pool. Aria was somewhat surprised to find Haruhi joining in on the fun in the pool while they were bouncing up and down in the fake waves. The twins, Honey, Tamaki, and Aria had pretended to be stranded in the ocean, trying to save each other with huge monsoon waves breaking them apart. Mori and Haruhi took part in this as well but with much less enthusiasm, though that was expected. Aria knew that Haruhi was enjoying herself but her personality just wasn't one for showing how happy she was. Aria expected that Haruhi was a little more withdrawn in that aspect, like Mori or Kyoya.

Aria felt herself smile, remembering how she got separated from Kaoru's grip and pretended to tragically float away from him from being pushed by waves. Both twins were shouting after her in, what she assumed but it seemed so believable, mock desperation but neither of them dove into the water after her because they were trying to stay attached with Honey and Tamaki. After Aria floated away towards the shallow end, she stood up, waist deep in water, and laughed as the wave pool was at its peak and the waves were the highest. The Host Club had been the loudest of the group, screaming and laughing and shouting, with the occasional mix of Haruhi's voice yelling at them to stop acting so idiotic.

Aria had laughed to herself, content with everyone else's happiness. After a moment, she looked around the pool at the other occupants and scenery. There were a lot of kids in the pool, also on inner tubes and laughing with joy. She continued to gaze when a thought occurred to her and she turned to look behind her.

Of course, Kyoya was standing shin deep in water with arms crossed with little waves at his feet, watching the Host Club intently. Aria frowned; despite herself, she felt her regular irritation bubble up with him because all he did was watch from a distance and never engage. She understood that it wasn't quite his personality to just leap right in and start laughing like the twins, but at least Mori was out there in the water. Aria thought for a moment; it would look strange if he _did _suddenly start having fun like Tamaki or the twins though.

But it wouldn't kill him to humor her.

Kyoya noticed Aria watching him from the distance, but did not react to it for a minute or so. When he did, he lifted a hand from his crossed arms to wave, all with a gentle smile on his face.

What was _with _him!

Kyoya had been acting very strange all day. By strange, it really meant pleasant. However, Aria knew that all his kindness and bizarre chivalry had not been forced during the day. The fact that it was purely genuine threw Aria off immensely. Especially with the stunt of pretending to be her boyfriend to ensure those three men wouldn't harass her.

That confused her a great deal.

It was such an out-of-character move for him. She just couldn't wrap her head around what his reasoning could have been for doing it. As far as she was concerned, she thought Kyoya would have gladly watched her burn in a fire because of his previous hostility towards her.

After the group got back to the ship, they decided to shower and then head off to eat dinner in the Serenity Dining Hall. Dinner had been lobster, a rare treat for Aria, and then after that, they headed to the arcade to kill time before they would turn in for the day.

The twins, Haruhi, and Aria played an epic game of Air Hockey, the teams consisting of Aria and Kaoru against Haruhi and Hikaru. To everyone's surprise, Haruhi had game and was scoring the majority of her team's points. Aria, wasn't quite as skilled as her female counterpart, but she and Kaoru enjoyed themselves immensely. The game lasted about a half hour, Honey and Tamaki cheering loudly for their preferred side to win; Kyoya and Mori had little input however. They were playing to fourteen, Aria and Kaoru winning for most of the game until Haruhi had an amazing comeback by scoring six points in a five minute period. However, at a tie of thirteen, Kaoru made the winning point after Aria banked the puck off a wall and he smacked it with his paddle, his twin missing the block by a hair. Aria was convinced they won out of sheer luck because it was clear Hikaru and Haruhi were better players than the other two.

When they won, there was an uproar in a huge uproar of noise because of how close the game was. Honey had been the loudest, chattering incessantly upon Mori's shoulders about how amazing it was. Kaoru swept Aria into a huge victory hug out of excitement.

In that hug, Aria had glanced up mid laugh and saw Kyoya standing a way back from the group, his face generally calm. He was leaning against the nearby wall, arms crossed, and pensive. Even with a slight smile at his lips, Aria noticed his eyes were darker than usual; the look reminded her of when he had been glaring at those three guys at Aquaventure.

And that…was where Aria's confusion came into play. The realization was hard to own up to even to herself.

She was crushing…_badly._

It wasn't on just one person, and that was what the problem was. Kaoru and Kyoya were two entirely different types of people, and both of them had qualities that attracted Aria to them, aside from the fact that both of them were extremely attractive in physical ways. She had never expected to find herself to crush on two people at the same time; she honestly didn't think it was possible for her.

Kaoru was the person that she could literally pour her heart out onto if she really wanted to. If she had wanted to tell her deepest, darkest secrets to someone, Kaoru would be the person she would gladly tell. She knew he was that friend that she could run to when she was frustrated with the world, when she wanted to vent, because he listened to her with a genuine interest. Kaoru did not offer advice and he never pretended to be something he was not.

Aria liked Kaoru because he took care of her, in very small ways, such as ordering her lunch at school, or asking if she was okay because her mood was foul from her previous arguing with Kyoya. Kaoru also was very mischievous and liked to cause trouble, but Aria knew that he did this in moderation, and that made him fun to be around. Despite having a twin that he was attached at the hip with, Aria had little trouble getting to know him as an individual.

But the best thing about him was that whenever he embraced her, she always felt safe and at peace. What could be better than that?

Then there was Kyoya.

He had grown on Aria over the last month, with his strange, yet tranquil mysteriousness about him. She did not like him in the very beginning, but that was because he hid behind some mask of civility when it was obvious he cared very little about Aria. As long as she could remember, Aria hated when someone pretended to be something they were not. However, over the course of the month she attended Ouran before the cruise, she realized that a lot of his refined manners and care were secretly genuine. Aria prided herself in being a relatively good people reader, and she slowly noticed that Kyoya wasn't as much as a fake as she presumed.

Kyoya's behavior towards her now was as genuine as ever. His kindness and unexpected bravado was very real, and very sincere. Aria wondered what sparked the change in him and wondered even more if his sudden territorial gazes were something she was making up entirely because she had been attracted to him in some way from the second she saw him, no matter how much she wanted to deny it. Thinking it over, Aria felt that she had hated him in the beginning because she had been attracted to him purely off of appearance and then hated that he was nothing of how he seemed, causing her to burn in shame for her apparent "shallowness." He made her deal with her own ideals without even realizing it.

What Aria liked the most was Kyoya's clear yet unspoken ambition and how he seemed so much older than he was. The air of maturity he radiated, the way he took control of any situation in such an effortless calm, was very attractive to her.

Aria…had no use for a boyfriend though and quite disliked the fact that she was attracted to both of them. She had no intention upon entering Ouran Academy to find a boyfriend or even friends for that matter, because she wanted to solely concentrate on her academics so she could become a doctor. Relationships were the last thing she ever expected to pursue, and she also had no intention to lead either Kaoru or Kyoya on.

She rolled over in her bed, shaking her head. Assuming that either of them felt similarly was conceited on her part; Aria could not imagine either of them ever having any feelings of romantic nature for her, or even be attracted to her physically. Just looking at their social standings and wealth made them so far out of her league that thinking on it made her laugh.

Sleep seemed to be a fantasy to her by now, but Aria closed her eyes and shifted to find a cold spot in the sheets. She cleared her mind, pushing her circling thoughts of each boy away so she could eventually drift into some sort of restful state.

"…stupid…" she whispered to her pillow.


	8. Oasis Island

**AN: still under reconstruction! Do not own anything of OHSHC**

**Chapter Eight: Oasis Island**

"Time to wake up, beautiful lovely Ariiiaaaa!" cried two voices at about eight am the next morning from the bottom of the stairs.

Aria issued out a tired groan and pulled the sheets up over head. She held on tightly to them, praying the twins wouldn't be able to wrench them from her grip. There was heavy pounding as they rushed up to the loft, both of them shouting off statements of her needing to get out of bed.

The lump of sheets remained silent as they leapt onto her, both on either side of her face, still yelling nonsense.

"Shut up…" she moaned, having no energy to even sound angry with them.

The twins leapt off the bed and went around to the end. "Rise and shine, princess!" they sang, taking a single jerk to wrench away the sheets and coverlet out of her grasp. Aria automatically pulled her legs and covered her head with a pillow.

The twins did not let her keep it for more than three seconds because they were already ripping all four pillows from her grasp and tossed two of them over the banister so that they'd fall to the first floor. Kaoru went to turn on the light while Hikaru continued to shout in a sing song voice for her to "rise to the occasion." It was still relatively dark in her room since Aria had all her curtains closed from the windows.

The second the light hit her, she scrunched her already closed eyes and hissed like a cat. This caused the Hitachiin brothers to laugh merrily before leaping back onto the bed to lie next to her.

"C'mon," Hikaru whined in her ear. She blindly reached out with her hand, which made contact with his face, and pushed him away before burying her face into the bed. "We already docked."

"Everyone is waiting to leave and you're late for breakfast," said Kaoru. She made no move to answer them or get up from the bed. The twins glanced at each other before smirking.

The twins rolled her over so that she would lie on her back, but that was surprisingly difficult since Aria made herself a deadweight for them. Once she was relatively in the position they desired, Kaoru took her by the wrists while Hikaru pushed Aria up from her back. They continued to struggle but they managed to get Aria to the edge of the bed and in an upright position.

Aria finally opened her slightly bloodshot eyes and attempted to shoot them glares. "I despise you two," she said, although she wasn't very intimidating because she had stifled a yawn halfway through her sentence.

Each boy took a hold of one her wrists and pulled her to a stand, and once they were sure she would stand on her own and not crawl back into the bed, Hikaru left her side to go get her clothes in her dresser. After a few seconds of his abandonment, Aria's legs seemed to give out a bit. Kaoru caught her quickly, chuckling at her because she unconsciously buried her face into his chest while letting out a exhausted moan.

Aria let her arms hang limply at her side, as Kaoru's arms wrapped around her to hold her steady. It would be easy to fall back asleep if they weren't standing; she let her mind wander tiredly in that direction.

"Someone went to sleep a little late last night," teased Kaoru in a quite voice.

She didn't reply immediately. "Coffee…" she said flatly.

Kaoru laughed and told her he would get her some before he absently stroked her hair, causing Aria to shift and let out a very soft moan at his touch. Was it really so bad to have the desire to fall asleep in his arms? It felt so safe to her.

Meanwhile, Hikaru was rummaging through her clothes, unaware of the what was occurring behind him. After a few minutes, he settled for a black boy tank and some shorts. As he turned, he stopped short for a second and saw his twin and Aria standing there, Kaoru gently stroking her hair with an enormous smile.

Kaoru winked mischievously at him and although Hikaru smirked, a sudden surge of jealousy shot through his veins. Hikaru did not mean to feel this way, and he certainly had nothing against Aria at all, but just the idea of her getting close to his twin, the closest human being he had, caused a sort of misdirected anger to boil over.

And Hikaru became very aware of a sudden distance…one he had never felt before.

"Aria!" he said, tone unnoticeably cold. "Get dressed! Where's your bathing suit?"

"In the bathroom…" she said into Kaoru's chest. She broke away, realizing she was closer to him than she had wanted to be, and straightened up. "Just go.… I'll be down in, like…ten minutes."

The twins eyed her for a moment, unconvinced. She let out a yawn and scratched the back of her head tiredly. Aria looked very confused as she stumbled over to the dresser where Hikaru left the clothes he picked out.

After a minute of swaying back and forth on the spot while staring blankly at the clothes, her eyes cleared a bit. She looked at them. "I'm tired…"

They laughed for a second at her obvious statement. The way she had said it so randomly amused them.

"You better not go back to sleep once we leave," warned Kaoru.

"We can help you change, if you'd like," said Hikaru with a wry grin. Both of them started advancing on her, their arms outstretched to reach for her clothes on her.

This was enough to wake Aria up and she quickly chucked a pillow at them from where they had tossed them on the floor. "Get out, you perverts…" she said, backing away. The twins did not stop at her demand and she immediately picked up the last pillow and knocked them both upside the head with it. They both laughed and desisted.

"Hurry, we're ready to leave," said the twins, and they made for the stairs. Aria watched them go downstairs but halfway down, Kaoru paused to turn and look at her.

"Will it be Columbian, Kona, American, or French Roast today, miss?" he asked, with an air of refinement, as if he was her servant. Aria blinked for a moment. The fact that Kaoru cared enough to inquire her coffee preference took her by surprise.

"…Kona. With a little milk. Two sugars," she replied gratefully, a gentle smile forming.

"Anything for you." He returned her look before continuing down after his brother, who had already made it to the door. His final statement caused her face to heat up slightly but she shook it off.

Once she heard the door shut after them, she turned to go change into her bathing suit before putting on the clothes Hikaru had picked for her. She did her morning routine at top speed, passing on the make-up and only brushing her teeth.

As she walked downstairs, she tied her hair up into a ponytail and placed her black snapback hat backwards over her head. Pausing at the counter in the mini kitchen, she grabbed her sunglasses and her small purse before heading out.

She did not expect the twins to be standing right outside her door, although she wasn't entirely surprised. Although, Kaoru had her coffee in hand, and the speed in which he got it was baffling.

"How did you…?" she trailed off, confused.

Kaoru handed her the to-go cup with a wink. "I had a feeling you'd be needing coffee this morning…so I already made it before we came to get you," he replied, further surprising Aria. She made to reply but Hikaru immediately jumped in and pressed a breakfast Panini in her hands as well, demanding she eat on the way out.

They poked more fun at her as she stifled yet another yawn. Aria automatically gave them equally hard kicks in the shin, silencing them for the rest of the walk to the unloading station.

* * *

"Welcome to Oasis Island!" shouted Tamaki while doing a fancy hand flourish in front of everyone.

The group had just gotten off the water taxi that had taken them from the ship, moored about a mile offshore, and took them to the small pier jutting out from the beach. Behind Tamaki was a beach house deeply nestled in the heavy vegetation. From the ship, the island looked quite big, and it was bigger now that they were standing on it. The girls wondered amongst themselves why the island was so large if it was only for private usage.

Aria looked to her left, ignoring Tamaki's long winded rant about the island, and saw a vast expanse of beach. On her right was also more beach but there was a volleyball net set up with what looked like a couple of volleyballs sitting in the sand by the poles. Her eyes grew wide with excitement.

"Is this…?" Haruhi trailed off for a moment. "_Your_ private island?"

"Yes!" exclaimed Tamaki, beaming at his friends. "Well, not precisely mine but it's my father's island that he had bought if he ever wanted to go on a vacation to the Caribbean. C'mon! I'll give you the grand tour."

He led everyone to the house so they could change into their bathing suits and to decide on what they wanted to do for the day.

Upon entering the foyer, Tamaki began speaking at top speed, bounding around to each and every interesting object and explaining with great detail the importance of its placement in the décor and design. Aria very quickly tuned him out, fascinated with the intricacy of even the smallest of things like the crown molding or the gold trimming on the curtains.

Overall, the large house was a little too lavish for Aria's tastes, but then again…she wasn't use to the wealthy lifestyle. It seemed fitting for Tamaki, at the very least, since he was always so outlandish and held such a grandiose aura.

Tamaki had led them to the main dining room, windows cast open and revealing a very lush backyard and forest beyond. He was going on about how there were several volleyball courts around the island and further into the forest, there was a large waterfall when someone tapped Aria's shoulder lightly.

"Aria?" said a quiet voice above her ear.

She glanced to her right and found Kyoya looking expectantly at her with a somewhat gentle face. "Hmm?" she said just as quietly as he had.

"Posso parlare con te per un momento _(may I speak to you for a moment)_?" he asked.

Aria raised an eyebrow. "Certamente _(sure)_," she replied, slightly wary.

Tamaki and the others continued on to the second floor while Aria and Kyoya remained at the base of the steps. Haruhi glanced at them as she climbed the stairs between Honey and Hikaru. She raised an eyebrow curiously at Aria, her eyes darting back and forth between Kyoya and Aria. The others did not seem to notice they were missing party members.

Aria knew Haruhi was trying to imply something through a look alone but she waved off Haruhi with a quick motion of her hand and turned to Kyoya. He waited for everyone to disappear upstairs completely before he turned his gaze at Aria.

"I have a job for you," he said flatly and still in Italian. Aria hardly noticed he hadn't changed back to Japanese, having become accustomed to speaking her native tongue when it was just the two of them. Although, she did notice that he said it with such finality that meant she could not refuse him.

Aria said nothing, assuming he would elaborate since she had no choice, it seemed, in the matter. Kyoya held out a small point-and-shoot camera and small handheld camcorder. Aria glanced at both objects before looking up at him, confused.

"I need you to take pictures and videos of the Host Club," he finished.

She let her eyes fall onto the devices for a moment. "Why?"

He made a small noise of impatience, but his eyes lacked the usual irritation he had with her, before he explained the situation about the Host Club's budget. He wasn't sure if she was going to refuse but he knew he could get her to cooperate through blackmail if he had to.

However, she took the camera and the camcorder with a bright smile. "Yeah," said Aria, "I totally don't mind helping you out. I mean, it's the least I can do for you guys for bringing me along for this cruise."

Kyoya smiled slightly, seeing the appreciation he had wanted to see weeks ago in her eyes. "Both are very expensive pieces but for good reason," he explained. "Each have more than enough memory to suffice; I can't imagine you taking enough pictures so it would be at full memory capacity, but if that does happen for some reason, I will be more than willing to purchase a memory card as well. They are built to last, so they are extremely durable. Even dropping them from a decent height will do no harm-"

He stopped short when Aria promptly dropped the video camera, which resulted in a resounding _smack! _against the intricate Spanish imported tile. The device neither shattered or split in any way, and Aria picked it up with an impressed expression.

"Are you finished?" snapped Kyoya. Aria laughed but did not reply. "…in addition, both the video camera and the camera are waterproof, so you can-"

"What?" gasped Aria in pure amazement. She stared at the camcorder. "It can video tape underwater? This thing is freakin' crazy!"

He could not help but chuckle briefly at her astonishment. "Yes. So, I do have to stress that you take care of them."

"Oh, of course. I'll be super careful with them," Aria said with a bit of sarcasm.

Kyoya nodded, ignoring her tone. "Upon my first initial research of you, I discovered you had somewhat of a passion for photography. From what little I saw of your work, it should suffice for the time being."

Aria's eyes narrowed, but did not take the jab to heart. She could not be sure if he purposefully said it to irritate her, or if he legitimately did not realize he had insulted her. In actuality, photography was something she had wanted to pursue very seriously for most of her life, until recently. She was surprised he did not know that but she did not say so.

"I'm glad to help…" she replied, shaking her head to herself. "So let me get this straight, you need me to take pictures of the Host Club so you can compile a special edition picture book, which you will sell to the girls back Ouran to put money back into your savings."

"Yes."

She raised an eyebrow. "Alright, so then what's the video camera for?"

"Ah, yes," replied Kyoya while readjusting his glasses, "I haven't quite decided on that yet although…"

He paused thoughtfully.

"I suppose I could use it for clips to post to the Host Club website so as to ensure our customers' return. I do not want lose any clients over this winter break because we did not put an effort to safeguard their interest. Perhaps I can pull all the video you take together onto DVDs and sell those off as well. That is assuming what you capture on film is worth editing or not."

"I can edit all of it, if you want," offered Aria without thinking. She inwardly cringed; she wasn't entirely keen on having "homework" on her break but if that was what it took to get Kyoya off her back about reimbursement, then she would do it.

He stared at her for half a moment. "There was nothing in the research that I found of you that said you were skilled in video and photo editing," he admitted, genuinely surprised, although if she had some skill in photography, that would go hand-in-hand.

She threw him a semi-dark look.

"A person is more than just a report, Kyoya," snapped Aria, clearly offended. He noticed that she had called him by his first name without an honorific attached to it again. The fact that it pleased him to some degree annoyed him but he did not let that show.

"My apologies," he replied gently.

Aria rolled her eyes and continued. "Anyways, I wouldn't say I have _extensive_ knowledge on editing but when I use to take photography seriously, I was able to get by with the skill I had."

He remained thoughtful for a moment, hearing Honey shout something in excitement upstairs. Kyoya was quite pleased with how events were playing out; he did not think she would have been so willing to help.

"I cannot guarantee that I will finalize anything you bring me, but if you show me some samples of both photos and video, I can make a decision then," he said, compromising so he did not have to decide. "Deal?"

Kyoya extended a hand to her and she eyed it. Her mind's eye flashed to the day before when he had held her hand in mock affection for her in front of those guys.

"Deal," she replied, gripping his hand in hers and shaking it for a moment. Another thought occurred to her. "Wait."

"What?" said Kyoya, who had started to make his way up the stairs. He looked down at her.

"Any guidelines or special instructions?" she asked.

He was unsure of what she meant for a moment before it clicked. "Oh," he said, "you are more than welcome to take pictures and film whatever you wish, and that includes any appearance you will make in either of them. I encourage you to include scenery, the ship, or anything else that you feel would go well with the picture book or video.

"However," paused Kyoya seriously, "I must stress that when you edit anything specifically for the Host Club's purposes, you cannot reveal that Haruhi is female. So, you may have to ask her to dress in some male clothes for our purposes. She should not object too much but if she does, just tell her that I said it's mandatory for her in order for her to pay off her debt."

Aria's face darkened. _Of course, Kyoya and his blackmail, _she thought.

"Furthermore, you cannot be in any pictures or video if it's for Host Club intentions. I do not want our customers to become jealous or angry with your appearance, which could cost us precious revenue," continued Kyoya. Aria mentally agreed, having no desire to be the cause of that type of extreme jealousy and possible retaliation. "Finally, you cannot portray the Host Club members in any way other than what they are seen as to our customers. We need to keep our image as well mannered, refined hosts. This means no violence, no fights, nothing of sadness or obnoxious, offensive behavior, and so on. I trust you understand what I mean by this."

Aria sort of laughed to herself. She could see how Tamaki's random temper tantrums or the violent outbursts he had for the twins could pose a problem for the Host Club if the girls back at Ouran all assumed he was much like a prince. What amused her most was that Kyoya was well aware that his club members were not at all refined the majority of the time.

"Of course," she replied with a smile. "I will do my best to bring you high quality material worthy of your time."

Kyoya nodded, again decidedly ignoring her sarcastic yet playful tone and turned to go upstairs.

They joined the rest of the group, who did not notice their absence or their arrival, excluding Haruhi who still held a questioning expression. However, Kyoya and Aria disregarded it. After another few minutes, Tamaki led them back downstairs so they could figure out what they were going to do for the day.

"Let's play volleyball!" suggested Aria immediately.

After a small debate, which mostly consisted of forcing Haruhi and Kyoya to play, it was agreed upon to play volleyball out in front. The group changed into their suits, Aria having brought her second set along as well. This one was also black and relatively simple but along the left breast and backside of the bottom were the Rasta colors of red, yellow, and a lime green.

"Oooh," said Honey, eying her over Usa-chan. "I really like your bathing suit, Ari-chan! It's so pretty."

Aria ignored the twins snickering to themselves and thanked Honey, although she didn't quite see where he found the "pretty" in her suit.

Once on the beach, they divided themselves up accordingly into teams. It was easy to decide; the first years on one team and the older ones on the other.

"If I'm not mistaken, you played volleyball on a club team back in the US, Aria. Weren't you captain?" asked Kyoya as he ducked under the net to his side of the court. Aria glanced over at him, wanting to shake her head. He already knew he wasn't mistaken but she had a feeling he was trying to cause trouble. What she didn't know is if it was playful banter or if he was serious.

Aria hoped it was the former. "I'm surprised you don't have your facts right, senpai," she replied, smoothing the sand around her with her feet. "Co-captain, which isn't all that impressive."

Kyoya smirked but did not reply, making her wonder why he brought it up at all.

They flipped a coin to see who would serve first. Tamaki won so his team, which he called Team Gorgeous, took the volleyball to serve. The twins were outraged with the opposing team's name and promptly dubbed their side Team Sexy.

"Why the hell did you pick sexy?" Haruhi snapped at them.

"Well, _hello!" _said Hikaru. "Just look at us."

Kaoru put an arm on his twin's shoulder, both smiling mischievously. "We're the epitome of sexiness."

The twins moved close to Haruhi and Aria, impish glints in their eyes. "But we also have really sexy girls in bikinis on our team," they said in unison.

Haruhi's gaze went dark with annoyance while Aria snorted, not surprised that they would make such flirtatious insinuations. The twins' eyes were lingering in places they shouldn't and Haruhi very nearly commented on this.

Out of nowhere, two volleyballs smacked the twins in the back of the heads and they fell forward, face-planting into the sand. Aria looked up in astonishment to see Tamaki seething, with another set of volleyballs at the ready. She stifled the urge to laugh only because she did not want to laugh at the twins' expense.

"How many times do I have to tell you two!?" Tamaki shouted. "Sexually harassing my precious daughter and my little sister is forbidden and yet you continuously do anyways! How can you call yourselves hosts if you act that way outside of hosting! Disgraceful, shady twins! Has my grandeur as club president failed to mean anything to you two!?"

Aria could no longer hold back any longer and burst out laughing at the sight of Tamaki's beet red face. She swore she could see the skull and crossbones in his eyes and the fire spewing from his mouth as he now chased the twins around the court. Tamaki kept throwing volleyballs at them, and missing, but the twins took this opportunity to mock their president.

Tamaki's theatrical and over dramatic ways at first, made Aria uncomfortable; she had never encountered someone so unusual. As time progressed, she became amused with how protective he became whenever it regarded Haruhi and how he would use Aria as a cover up so no one would know that in reality, he was really just concerned with Haruhi specifically.

Aria assumed that the majority of the Host Club knew that Tamaki was crushing on Haruhi, other than Haruhi herself. Aria had no idea how such a smart girl could be completely oblivious to the fact that Tamaki liked her. Haruhi didn't seem to put two and two together.

That aside, Aria was a perceptive person and liked to think that she could see through people very easily. Hikaru seemed to have some sort of attraction to Haruhi too; it was subtle but very clear. Though both twins tease Haruhi to no end, Aria noticed that there was an underlying interest that Hikaru, in particular, had for her. The twins were rarely ever separated from each other but on that rare occasion that they were, it was unmistakable that Hikaru liked Haruhi…but just didn't know how to deal with those emotions.

Hikaru and Tamaki were very similar in that aspect.

Tamaki had delusions to cope with those feelings, and Hikaru was oblivious to his own, and on occasion they came out as misdirected anger.

"I'm going back inside if we don't start," said Haruhi said dully. Aria pulled out of her thoughtfulness and realized that the twins were now chucking volleyballs at Tamaki…who had taken cover behind Mori.

After they separated and calmed down, they seemed to be ready to play. Everyone got into a squared formation on their side of the court just before Honey did a light underhand serve to start out the game.

The first two rallies were fairly short; everyone needed to get use to running and jumping in sand. The next three rallies were easy-going and long.

Team Gorgeous was up by one with three to two. They were serving again, this time it was Mori's turn. He did an overhand serve, which made a beeline over the net towards Hikaru. He bumped the ball up towards Haruhi.

She took a step back to set the ball but stumbled a little because of the sand. Aria saw that she was trying to set it over the net but it came up short. However, Aria saw this as a perfect opportunity to spike it.

"Got it!" she called before Kaoru made a move to bump it over. Aria ran three steps forward and leapt into the air with her arm pulled back. With all her strength, she swung downward and her palm made contact with the ball.

With a resounding smack, she hit it. Tamaki and Mori dove into the sand to try and save it but they both missed and the ball bounced between them.

It had been the first spike of the game.

"Whoa!" said the twins in unison.

Honey was impressed too. "Wow, that went super fast!" he said, his brown eyes wide with amazement.

After that, the game was intense. Aria had inadvertently given them all aggressive spirits. Even Haruhi and Kyoya upped their game a little and started playing competitively, Kyoya with trying to block spikes and Haruhi making some of her own. Aria, in turn, put her game face on and didn't hold back at all, which scored her team many points.

The rallies, for the most part, lasted for a while, which made the satisfaction of winning a point all the more. Aria was surprised how well they were all playing, especially with Haruhi and Kyoya. She was in shock that Kyoya actually agreed to join in on the fun.

It was game point for Team Sexy and it was Aria's turn to serve. She threw up the ball high and did a running spike, the ball headed straight for Tamaki, who bumped it up. Kyoya called the set and pushed it towards the net.

Aria thought Mori was going to spike it, since he was the closest, but to her surprise, Honey called it.

Honey leapt up onto Mori's shoulders and pushed off lithely with his feet towards the ball. His hand made contact with the ball and he spiked it hard. Haruhi hesitated and ducked at the speed and power behind the ball, so it smacked Kaoru right in the chest, causing him to fall back into the sand, which later left a very light bruise on his pale skin.

"Sorry, Kao-chan!" called Honey apologetically.

However, the ball was still in play and Hikaru dove for the ball. He just made it and the volleyball popped up, giving Haruhi time to bump it over.

The rally seemed to last forever because Team Gorgeous didn't want to let Team Sexy win. They were desperate to keep the ball in play and twice, when Aria thought her team finally won, one of the members of Team Gorgeous would save the ball from where it seemed it would bounce out of bounds.

Team Sexy nearly lost the point when Kaoru attempted to block Mori's spike. However, because Mori was so strong, it sent Kaoru flying back again and Aria dove into the sand quickly before they lost the rally.

But Team Sexy prevailed with Haruhi giving the winning spike. The way she had come up to the spike made the opposite team think she was going to hit it hard. However, at the last second, she only tapped it, and it just dropped right over the net and hit the sand.

Team Sexy exploded with noise.

The others congratulated them on their win, although Tamaki seemed put out at their loss. The twins wanted to put Aria and Haruhi on their shoulders in a celebratory fashion but Haruhi refused point blank to let Hikaru hoist her up. Aria, however, saw no harm in it as long as it was a piggyback ride instead.

"We kicked ass!" cried Aria from Kaoru's back as he ran around a little so she could high five Haruhi and Hikaru.

She saw that everyone was glistening with sweat from the game, including herself. Aria jumped off of Kaoru's back, not fond of the sticky feeling she was having from her skin on his.

"Let's go in the water!" shouted Honey, already running for the clear blue waves. Aria grinned and chased after him with both the camera and camcorder in tow. Tamaki tailed her with the twins and they all leapt into the cool water with peals of laughter.

When Aria came up from under the waves, she turned to see if the others had joined them. As she expected, Mori was already waist deep while Haruhi just approached the wet sand. Aria hadn't anticipated Haruhi to take off towards the water like everyone else.

Of course, Kyoya had strolled along at his own pace; he was just too cool to run like a little kid.

She pulled out the camera and started to snap shots with it. Aria was in awe with how quick it snapped beautiful pictures, showing so much detail, right down to the beads of water shining on Mori's back. The camera caught movement easily without blur so even the splashing was like it was stopped in time forever in the pictures.

Aria could already tell that she was going to have too much fun with this camera.

* * *

It was about four pm and everyone was laying out on the beach, exhausted from volleyball and spending hours in the sun and in the water. It seemed like everyone was asleep. That was understandable; they had all been running around in the sand and water, and the sun's heat

Aria, however, wasn't resting yet she was the one running on only five hours of sleep instead of eight or nine.

She sat up on her towel and looked at the rest of her friends all clustered together. Haruhi had a book next to her that she had been reading before she passed out. Honey had Usa-chan with him and was curled up in a ball. Mori looked asleep, as well as Tamaki and the twins. Kyoya had an iPod; Aria wondered vaguely what kind of music he listened to, but he seemed asleep too so she didn't ask.

She stood up and pulled out the camera. Aria started to take pictures of the members at different angles, catching light in different ways and taking varying types of shots. She made sure only to take pictures of Haruhi's face for now.

Aria had always had a thing for photography. At one point, she had wanted to pursue it and become a photographer…but she decided against it and changed her career path to becoming a doctor. So now, photography was her hobby. She was surprised that Kyoya hadn't known about it, seeing that he had researched her extensively.

She also recorded them a little for use of the video she was going to make, keeping Haruhi's head only in frame. She didn't know how them sleeping would tie into it but she wanted to have enough footage to choose from to create a good video that the girls back at Ouran Academy would pay top dollar for.

The hosts were already starting to get darker. They were still much paler than Aria, whose Italian heritage enabled her to tan easily, but Aria could see the very subtle difference in color. She laughed to herself, recalling how earlier, all the host members had liberally put on the strongest SPF sunblock to protect their skin from the sun. They were Japanese, so Aria didn't think that they were going to tan so much as they were going to get burned.

Aria could already see the whining the twins or Tamaki would be doing if they were to get sunburned.

She chuckled quietly and turned away from the group.

After that, she decided to go exploring in the forest behind the house. Tamaki had mentioned that there was a waterfall or something similar and she thought that it would be a nice place to just sit and be by herself.

Aria left the Host Club and walked across the beach and into the green forest of trees, eager to have some alone time. It was dense and the ground was soft, causing her flip flops to sink in the dirt. Rays of sunlight poured through the trees leaves intermittently.

She walked around for about ten minutes. She found the waterfall that Tamaki had been speaking of after she pushed aside some brush.

It was about a twenty-five foot high waterfall, falling into a large pool of water. It led to a small creek that outpoured the water somewhere into the ocean. Aria could picture this being a small base-jumping spot into the water.

There was a rope hanging from one of the trees that were close to the water. Aria made note to try it out in a little bit..

It was breath taking with all the surrounding scenery to it.

She snapped a few pictures of the scenery for the book as well as recorded a little bit on the camcorder.

_I can see myself getting really irritated with lugging these around, _she thought idly. For now, she was entertained with idea of making a video and editing her photos. She was glad she brought her laptop along on the trip otherwise it would have been difficult to do it.

Aria decided she would climb up to the top of the waterfall and sit up there, possibly taking a few more pictures. Kyoya did encourage scenery and this seemed like a perfect place to start. After a moment of analyzing her best route up, she stepped forward to make her way towards the rocks, her excitement rising.

A pair of hands covered here eyes before she got far.

"Guess who?" said a familiar voice, though striving to sound deeper.

Aria laughed lightly. "Kaoru-kun," she said.

"Damn, I was hoping you'd think it'd be Mori-senpai!"

She raised an eyebrow with an amused expression. "Yeah, right! Your voice would never be able to get that deep!" Aria jested, causing Kaoru to stick out his tongue playfully. "I thought you were sleeping."

"More like a half-sleep. I heard you get up too," he said, returning the smile. "I saw you wandering off by yourself so I followed. Kyoya-senpai _did _tell you not to do that, you know."

"Wow, he told you that?" Aria huffed in minor annoyance. "I'm fine, clearly."

Kaoru rolled his eyes, amused. "Typical Aria response," he teased. "He told all of us that you and Haruhi weren't allowed to be by yourselves while at port and even on the ship for a long time. You never know, Aria, you could need my help and I wouldn't be able to do anything if I wasn't with you."

Aria opened her mouth to argue but…something caught her attention. She was confused as to why Kaoru specifically mentioned himself solely as being someone she desired as a her rescuer and not the group on the whole. After a moment of thought, she brushed off her thoughts, feeling like she was over-analyzing a very small statement. It probably didn't mean anything and she realized she was being a girl and over-analyzing things.

"Fine…" she sighed. "You win."

He grinned triumphantly, his golden eyes twinkling.

"Wipe that silly grin off your face," she snapped, turning to go climb the waterfall. "And come climb to the top with me."

Kaoru followed her eagerly, almost like a puppy with his master. Aria decided to take off her flip-flops and leave them down here so she wouldn't have a hard time climbing up.

She paused at the base of the waterfall. "You go up first."

"Why?"

Aria half glared at him. "You're going to stare at my ass the entire way up!" she exclaimed. Kaoru stared blankly at her before laughing.

"_Well_," he said, that stupid mischievous grin on his face, "since you pointed it out, now I will."

Aria promptly hit him in the chest. "Pervert."

He winked at her but made no move to climb first. "What if I go up first and you slip and fall?" he said. "I wouldn't be there to catch you and then I'd feel really guilty for not having been able to keep you from getting hurt."

"Then you'd get hurt too!"

Kaoru shrugged. "Yeah, but at least I'd take most of it. It'd kill me if you were to fall and crack your head open, Aria. Better me than you."

There was that strange feeling in her stomach as he gazed at her with a more serious look. The way his eyes half twinkled at her was a little surprising, especially with the way he kept reiterating that he cared for her, in so many words.

Kaoru was looking out for her well-being, and he was right, in a sense.

"Fine!" she repeated, reaching out for the rock face. "You're so stubborn."

He chuckled at this before reaching up to steady her.

Aria decidedly ignored the hands that touched her waist for a moment to help her up the first few feet, wanting to comment on how dangerously close they were to her buttocks. She carefully made her way up, making sure she had a tight grip before she kept ascending. The rocks were a little slippery from the humid air leaving water behind on the cool surface but so far, she wasn't having too many issues with it.

Halfway up, Kaoru started to climb as well. "Don't stare at my ass!" she said to the wall, not really sure if he was actually looking or not.

She heard him laugh. "Aria, I don't know why you're so embarrassed," he said from below her. "You have a very cute butt."

Aria's face grew extremely hot at the statement but she realized she was grinning to herself. "Ignoring that!" she replied. Aria had attempted to speak harshly but she was too pleased with herself to really be angry. She suddenly was aware of how grateful she was for all the rigorous volleyball training she had done.

They continued to climb up in silence; Aria was taking it slow because she was scared that if she got too confident, she would make a mistake and fall. If she did, she didn't want to hurt Kaoru as well as herself, no matter how much he said he didn't mind.

"_So_," said Kaoru after a few minutes of standing in one spot, "as much as I'm enjoying the view-"

"Shut up!" Aria snapped; she could hear the smirk in his voice.

"-it would be nice if you'd hurry up."

She growled at him. Another few minutes passed and she reached the top. Her arms were a little achy but she was excited to see the view from this vantage point. She waited for Kaoru to join her before they went to sit down at the head of the waterfall on some large rocks.

"Wow," she said, her voice barely above the noise of the water. "This is so beautiful."

Kaoru agreed; he, however, wasn't really looking at the scenery as much as he was looking at her. Of course, she was oblivious to this fact.

They didn't speak for a while, listening to the sound of the rushing water falling off the small cliff. They could make out birds calling to one another and the rustling of the leaves from the wind going through the trees. Everything around them was teeming with life and the vegetation was a healthy green.

Aria's eyes were the same color…but far more beautiful.

Kaoru glanced to his left; she was staring out in awe at the scenery, her expression like a little kid's face at Christmas time. Aria liked simplicity. It didn't take much for her to be really happy, he realized.

Being with her made _him_ happy.

She was like a light in a dark room. Everyone was attracted to her because of how happy she was and the positive vibe she emanated. How could anyone really dislike Aria? Well, anyone who saw their glass half empty rather than half full or was generally very negative probably wouldn't care for Aria.

"So, what's with the cameras all of sudden?" Kaoru asked, noticing both items were resting beside her hand on the rock. Aria laughed, but narrowed her eyes.

"Kyoya-senpai…"

"Say no more," said Kaoru while holding up a hand. "That explains everything."

Kaoru picked up the camera and turned it on. He pointed it at Aria, who smiled brightly for him, and he clicked.

"Cute," he said, glancing up at her over the camera. She laughed and took it from him.

Aria leaned herself over so she could be close to him and held out the camera at arm's length. Both smiled and she snapped a picture. "Funny face!" she cried, sticking out her tongue while Kaoru bared his teeth like a wild animal.

Both started laughing as they were messing around with both the camera and the camcorder for a while, taking videos and pictures of each other. Aria mostly enjoyed their silly faced ones, and definitely was taken by surprise when Kaoru kissed her cheek at the last second of another.

She hit him for that.

Now, Aria was snapping picture after picture of Kaoru, who was posing on a rock, acting as if he was a fashion model. She was catching every angle she could while busting up laughing because some of the faces he was making were hysterical.

"I can't think of any more poses…" said Kaoru finally, lowering his arms from a flex.

Aria also lowered her arm with the camera and grinned. "That's okay, I think I have more than enough pictures of you being ridiculous."

Kaoru narrowed his eyes at her playfully but didn't reply.

Both turned to face the water below them. It was silent between them for a moment. "We should jump," said Kaoru. Aria glanced at him before she grinned.

"Let's do it!" she said, her eyes growing bright with excitement. He instinctively reached for her hand and smiled.

They counted to three and both leapt off the cliff. Beside Kaoru as they rushed towards the water, he heard Aria yelling out in exhilaration just before they hit the surface. Once they were fully submerged, they released each other's hands and swam back up for air.

Kaoru came up first, having not gone as far under as she had.

"Whoo!" she shouted, when she came out of the water, her hands thrust in the air with the two cameras in each fist. "That was awesome!"

He laughed at her enthusiasm, splashing water in her face. She did not take kindly to this and returned the favor by spitting out water at him.

"C'mon! Let's try this too!" He climbed out of the water and dashed towards the rope. Aria watched as he climbed up some rocks, slipping at one point. Aria could not stifle her laugh at his random clumsiness. Once there, he grabbed the rope and pulled back. With a running start, he leapt up on to the rope, practically clutching with his life and it swung forward towards the water.

Just as he released the rope, Aria snapped a picture and he fell into the pool, again splashing water in her face.

"You gotta try it!" he exclaimed when he resurfaced.

Aria consented and swam to the edge of the pool. She was able to pull herself up easily but halfway from getting out of the water, she felt a sharp pain at her left hip. She gasped and fell back, confused as to what happened.

"Are you okay?" Kaoru's tone sounded urgent, having heard her yelp in pain. He swam over to her, concerned.

"Yeah, I think so," she said, not sounding convinced. Aria looked around and found a bit of an easier way to climb out because the rocks under the water naturally created steps. "I don't know…. I scraped something when I was getting out."

Once they both were out, she looked down to see if she was unharmed.

"Aw, hell," she groaned. Kaoru saw exactly what she was referring to. She had a decent sized slash across her hip, which was bleeding quite a bit.

"What the heck did you do?" he cried as she put her hand on it to stem the flow. He glanced over at the spot she had tried to get out at. Sure enough, there was a jagged rock protruding out from the small precipice where she had cut herself. It wasn't too sharp but Aria must have really brushed up against it to receive the wound she had.

She shrugged. "I'm fine," she said indifferently. "It'll stop in a minute."

Kaoru scoffed slightly, though looking heavily troubled, and quickly put on his flip-flops. He went over to the rock face where hers were and picked them up before hurrying back over to her.

"We gotta get you back to the house, you're bleeding badly." Aria wanted to disagree, but even her hand wasn't stopping from the blood dripping through her fingers.

He turned his back towards her and made a gesture. "C'mon, I'll carry you back," he said. Aria, however, did not make a move to climb on for a piggyback ride.

"_I'm fine!"_ she repeated stubbornly. "I can definitely walk. It's just a little blood. I can wash it off once it stops bleeding-"

Aria stopped short when Kaoru turned suddenly and swept her up bridal style in his arms. At this, she yelped, surprised by his brazen behavior. She didn't even have a chance to protest before he started walking quickly through the heavy vegetation.

"This is so unnecessary!" Kaoru ignored her. "And I'm getting blood all over you."

Kaoru quickly made his way through the vegetation. "Don't worry about it," he said, his voice shaking a bit from the weight behind his steps. "I know you could've walked but I didn't want there to be a chance of you passing out and hurting yourself even more."

There is was again, that strange swooping sensation in her stomach whenever he expressed his concern for her. Even still, it was very sweet of him to worry this much.

"Guess I got hurt anyways…" she mumbled to herself. At this, Kaoru gave a brief chuckle and glanced at her.

"Good thing you have me here." He winked and pressed on.

Aria did not reply, but was very aware of how warm her face became.


	9. Vanilla

**Author's note: Update yaay! Anyways, this is a filler chapter I guess. I don't know! Anyways, I'd like to thank all the constructive criticism. It's been very helpful, you have no idea. Anyways, enjoy! Next chapter will be a little less about Aria and her boy toys and a little more insight on her relationships with the other characters. I haven't decided how that will play out quite yet. PLEASE review, I love reviews and seeing my little number go up! it makes me happy. I mean of course, you don't have to but it'd be awesome if you guys didn't just do alerts! If you review, I can make the story better. Besides, if you guys tell me who you're voting for (Kyoya or Kaoru) I'll be able to decide who she will be with! LET ME KNOW! REVIEW!**

**I don't own anything of OHSHC! Just my OCs and plotline. YAYAYAYAY! ^_^**

Chapter Nine: Vanilla

Aria exhaled impatiently. "Seriously!" she snapped. "This is so unnecessary! This isn't a freak show."

She was lying down, staring up at the ceiling, on the couch inside the house on the island. The entire Host Club was watching Kyoya clean the decent sized gash on Aria's hip with rubbing alcohol. Honey and the twins looked most concerned about her while Kyoya and Mori looked the least bit worried.

"What did you do anyway?" asked Tamaki after a moment, his head barely peeking over the couch to watch Kyoya.

"I was climbing out of the lake under the waterfall and I ended up scraping against this rock that was sticking out of the wall," Aria explained. "Nothing big or exciting."

With her last statement, she shot Kaoru a dark look.

"We thought you were dying with the way Kaoru came running out of the forest, screaming for help," Haruhi said. The whole group, save for Honey, who was too concerned about Aria's well-being, looked at Kaoru; he laughed uncomfortably.

Aria rolled her eyes to herself as Kaoru tried to justify his actions.

"Does it hurt, Ari-chan?" Honey asked, clutching Aria's hand tightly in worry. She smiled reassuringly, though the stinging of the alcohol caused her to wince involuntarily.

"Nah," she said breezily. Honey didn't look convinced. "Honey-senpai, I swear. I'm fine."

After another minute, Kyoya placed a bandage over the gash, which had stop bleeding so profusely now. He stood up, first aid kit in hand, and let Aria sit up.

"_Anyways," _said Aria in a cross manner, "we're going to be late for dinner…and the water trolley is here."

At this, they all started to gather their things. Kyoya came back from putting the first aid kit away and gave Aria a slightly irritable look.

"Lei dovrebbe essere più attento," he scolded lightly. _(Translation: You should be more careful.) _She gave him a small glare but it wasn't meant to be malevolent.

"Sto bene," she replied firmly. _(Translation: I'm fine.) _Kyoya didn't look convinced but he turned away so he could make his way out towards the dock. Aria glared half-heartedly after him before going into the dining room to go pick up her bag. Aria had left it on the dining room table like everyone else but, upon checking, it was not there.

Confused, she checked the kitchen, thinking maybe someone had moved it in there for whatever reason.

"Has anyone seen my-?"

"We have it!" sang two voices. The twins appeared by her side like a puppy dogs to their master. Aria blinked, having been put into a minor state of shock because they had emerged from the other room so quickly at the sound of her voice.

Hikaru was holding Aria's black beach bag while Kaoru was resting his chin on his brother's shoulder with Aria's towel slung over his shoulder, both grinning at her.

Aria made to take the bag from Hikaru for it but both backed away slightly, placing her beach bag out of her reach. This caused her to give both of them a slightly annoyed look. "Can I have it back?"

"We can carry it for you," said Hikaru.

"Besides, you need to rest," finished Kaoru.

Her face went dark. "You can't be serious."

She knew these boys well enough to know that they were just trying to give her a hard time…which they were doing a very good job of it. She reached for it again, but both boys put a hand out on either of her shoulders to stop her.

"Give me my bag, dammit!" she snapped. "Or so help me God, I will kick you both in the nuts."

Both immediately burst out laughing while they still held her back from taking her bag from them. "Well, that's not very nice," they said, sounding hurt, though they were smirking widely at her. They obviously weren't intimidated with her threat.

"I'm not trying to be nice!"

The Hitachiin brothers sighed at her, as if they were frustrated with her behavior. "You have too much pride, Aria," said Hikaru, in a mock wise tone.

"And being that stubborn is going to be the death of you…" said Kaoru.

She stopped struggling against them for a moment.

Kaoru sounded far more serious than his twin…and looked the part too. Aria knew that she had too much pride for any one person to have…and it _has _gotten her into some situations that she could have easily avoided if she would have just accepted help. She has had a problem with that for as long as she could remember.

She had always wanted to do things on her own and in her own way even though she had always had people and resources around her to help her. Aria didn't know where she picked up her ideal on striving to be so independent when she never was expected to, whereas Haruhi had been forced to grow up at a young age.

"Fine," she relented after a long moment.

"Yay!" they cried in triumph…just before she punched the both of them hard in the chest. They doubled over from the sudden loss of breath and whined.

Aria ignored them, a smirk on her face, and made her way towards the dock where the others were waiting, other than Tamaki; he had to lock up the house. Aria noticed that Kaoru was standing unreasonably close to her, watching her at almost every second until she was sitting down in the water trolley on their way back to the ship. She figured that he thought she was going to suddenly pass out from the loss of blood, despite it having not been much at all; she had donated far more blood to blood banks than what she bled out today.

Although, she had to admit, she was a little tired, but she felt like that had more to do with her lack of sleep from the night before.

The ride back was noisy with all the chatter about the events of the day. The twins, now that Kaoru was sure that Aria was okay, were picking on Tamaki for losing the volleyball game today. Tamaki then promptly threatened to push them overboard. At this, the twins ducked behind Haruhi for protection. She, however, also threatened to throw them overboard as well.

Aria laughed quietly to herself. _Jeeze…I don't know how Haruhi can stand this all the time…_she thought as she pulled out the video camera. She knew that she wasn't going to be able to use any of the footage of Tamaki shouting at the twins, or the fact that Haruhi was clearly showing she was a girl but Aria decided to roll the camera anyway.

* * *

_Beauty of the Seas _was making its way across the waters at a swift pace. The night was cloudless again, but the moon wasn't quite as bright as it had been two nights before as Aria wandered the top deck. She was a night owl and during these hours, she never ran into the Host Club members. She spent nearly every waking moment with them, so it was nice to have her solitude.

The deck was chillier than usual; Aria hadn't been dressed for the cooler temperature and she was getting cold. That aside, she had taken a shower before she decided to stroll around on the deck, so her hair was still damp. She decided she would go wander the ship's interior for now before she went off to bed for the night.

She passed by the 24 hour café where Andros, the young man that worked their every night, headphones plugged in his ear. He glanced up when he saw her and smiled, so she returned the gesture. Aria had held a few conversations with him while meandering across the deck.

Ninety-percent of the crew members on the ship were not American, but had come from other countries around the world. Andros was from Poland and spoke decent English, thankfully, because Aria didn't know how to speak Polish, although she was sure she could pick up easily enough since she was already fluent in four other languages.

Aria found herself at the aquarium deck before she realized where her feet were taking her.

She was amazed at how the ship was able to house such a large, and extensive, aquarium. Aria knew that some of the fish they had were from the deep sea, so the tanks that those fish lived in had to be extremely dark and pressurized. That within itself was very impressive to her.

_The Ootori family must be loaded with money…_she mused. _For them to just spend their money so frivolously…well, I'm sure they just have no idea what to do with all the money they make._

What the Ootori family did to be so wealthy was beyond her; she never thought to ask, or had a care for that matter, about what Kyoya's family did to be so wealthy. In fact, she didn't really know what _any _of her friend's families did.

Well, now she would have to ask when she got the chance…if she remembered, that is. It wasn't all that important to her so she knew she'd probably forget unless something triggered her memory.

Aria gazed at some of the seahorses that were in a large tank in the middle of the room. After a moment, she went over to the puffer fish that the twins had tormented when they first arrived. She stood there for a moment before she hit the glass really hard with her knuckles. The seven or so puffer fish all inflated in fright, thinking there was danger. Aria couldn't help but chuckle to herself.

"Fermare molestando il pesce," admonished a familiar smooth voice from behind. _(Translation: Stop harassing the fish.) _Aria jumped at the sound, scared to death because she thought she had been alone.

She turned around.

Kyoya was sitting on a plush chair with his laptop in front of him on a small table that was behind the large seahorse tank. No wonder why she didn't notice him before. He wasn't looking at her; instead he was staring into the screen. He wasn't typing either, which explained why Aria hadn't known he was there because she would have heard him clacking away on it.

"Jeezus, senpai, she exhaled in relief. "How long have you been sitting there?"

His gray eyes pulled away from his laptop and to hers. "Ohh," he said, still speaking in Italian while he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "about an hour or so."

Aria looked blankly at him. "Oh," she said lamely before continuing. "Do you always come down here at night?"

Kyoya smiled slightly. "Yes," he replied, beginning to type now. He left it at that, even though Aria thought he would have continued.

She paused. "What are you doing?" she asked curiously.

He glanced up at her, a mixture of irritation and amusement in his eyes. "What is this? Twenty questions?" he said, looking back at the screen. Aria chuckled briefly at this. "After everyone goes to bed, I come down here to do some budget work or plan future themes for the Host Club. It's the only time Tamaki or the twins aren't harassing me about what we are going to be doing for the day."

She laughed again; she definitely understood his point.

"Do you mind if I join you?" she asked.

Kyoya's typing slowed down significantly. "Of course not," he said, his voice flat with no emotion. Aria took the only other chair at the table, which was on his right.

It was silent for a moment, save for the steady stream of clacking that he was doing on his laptop. Aria had always been comfortable with silence but for some reason, she didn't like the silence with Kyoya.

With Kaoru, Aria could easily enjoy his company just by him being there and she already knew that he wasn't thinking anything in particular. Kyoya, on the other hand…well, it was already known that Kyoya never stopped thinking…ever…so she always wondered what was running through that brain of his.

"How is the project I've given you coming along?" he asked suddenly, though he didn't look at her. Aria watched the light of the screen reflect off his glasses for a moment.

She sat more comfortably in her seat before she replied. "You told me about it today, dingbat. I barely started!"

Aria had spoken in a teasing manner and thankfully, Kyoya did not take the name calling personally. He smiled very slightly.

"This may be true," he answered, still not favoring her with a glance, "but I expect you to be working diligently on it whenever you have free time. You do realize that you _owe _the Host Club, right?"

She knew that he was jabbing at her but she heard the underlying tone of playful banter in his slightly harsh voice. "Unfortunately, I do," she sighed, though she was smiling.

It was silent again between them and Aria looked around at the tanks of varied fish to occupy herself. It was still a little uncomfortable for her so she nervously, yet subconsciously, reached up to run a hand through her still damp hair, noticing that it was starting to curl a little like it usually did.

She thought she saw Kyoya stiffen slightly. Upon checking, she noticed he did look a little more stiff, well…more than normal, as he was now guiding his finger along the mouse pad. Aria smiled to herself.

After a moment more of quiet, she reached out and pushed the laptop shut on his hands, knowing full well she could be risking the wrath of the Ice King.

However, he merely looked at her, face blank. "What was that for?" he asked. There was an edge in his voice…but Aria didn't feel like it was riddled with anger or contempt. It was a different sort of edge that she couldn't quite place her finger on.

"It's kind of rude, don't you think?" she chuckled, amused. "I mean, the least you could do is just stop working when you're with someone."

He pulled his hands out from under the laptop so it could close entirely and he let the smallest smirk play across his lips. Aria had to admit, but him smirking was probably one of her favorite looks on him. She strangely liked almost overconfident look in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that I was expected to be entertaining you," he said wryly, leaning back into his chair and crossing his arms. "After all, I believe _you're_ the one who interrupted my work."

Aria scoffed, narrowing her emerald eyes at him. "_Right, _work," she said sarcastically. She threw up her hands to do the sign of quotations marks around the word "work." "I'm sure you just sit on your laptop and play games all day."

Kyoya laughed lightly. It caught Aria off guard because normally, it was a very fake laugh but she could tell by the way his face creased at the eyes that it was genuine.

"You have spent too much time around Tamaki," he replied.

"Maybe," she said simply.

He gazed at her for a long moment, causing her to blush a little; Aria didn't like being stared at for a long period of time, as it made her uncomfortable. She averted her eyes from his and tied up her hair to relieve of her uneasiness. Again, Kyoya stiffened for a moment.

The silence started to get awkward for her but she had no idea what to say. She could tell that he was watching her nervously fidget with her fingers and her hair and it made her just want to snap a _"what?" _at him.

_Why is he being so bizarre…?_

_

* * *

_

This was torture.

The aroma of vanilla was so strong that I had been able to smell her as she had passed by on the opposite side of the seahorse tank. She had walked right past me towards the puffer fish tank. She stared at them for a couple of minutes before she rapped hard on the glass, scaring the fish into blowing themselves up before laughing lightly at the sight.

Her hair was still damp from what I could tell. I figured that that was the reason she smelled so strongly of vanilla because she never had it coming off of her like this before.

I scared her half to death when I had spoken, which hadn't been my intention. I found myself slipping into speaking Italian, yet again, and she replied back in the same manner. She seemed uneasy for a moment so she started to ask questions. However, I had not expected Aria to want to join me, seeing how I didn't think it would be a comfortable notion for her.

However, she did…but my notion was correct because a rather awkward silence enveloped us shortly after. When she had sat down, the smell of vanilla surrounded me and I couldn't help but stiffen. It was such an enticing smell and I had never come across anyone who could radiate such a concentrated scent.

I loved the smell, sadly enough….

I had no idea what to say, and I didn't trust myself quite yet to not comment about her smelling like French vanilla, so I kept typing away on my laptop; I wasn't paying much attention to the figures I was so arbitrarily entering.

I'd have to go back and fix this all later, which was counter productive and highly irritating but I couldn't exactly concentrate.

Why it was so awkward was beyond me. I didn't particularly understand what had transpired between us to make our conversation flow rather erratic, at best.

Finally, I broke the silence because the feeling of her being uncomfortable outweighed my desire to remain quiet; I could not stand the awkward feeling she was emanating. It was driving me crazy.

"How is the project I've given you coming along?" was the first thing that came out of my mouth.

Idiot!

She laughed, and made a comment about how she only just started it…as well as calling me a "dingbat." Aria was teasing me slightly, which I picked up on so I smiled a little.

After I replied, we fell back into silence. This bothered me and I could tell that she was bothered by it as well. I have a hard time understanding why I so suddenly care about how she is feeling around me. At least, to a certain degree.

Aria brushed her hair back and the smell of vanilla came crashing over me again; I stiffened reflexively at the smell.

It was luring me in to touch her hair…which would be awkward in itself.

She suddenly leaned forward from her somewhat relaxed position and shut my laptop on my hands. I looked over at her.

I found my normal irritation with her bubble just slightly but it did nothing more than that. I don't think I could find it in myself to be annoyed with her because the aroma of vanilla was distracting me to a degree of which I cannot describe. "What was that for?" I asked, my voice a little hard.

"It's kind of rude, don't you think?" she said with a light laugh. "I mean, the least you could do is just stop working when you're with someone."

It was not hard to discern the subtle sign of flirtation in her emerald eyes. It was interesting, to say the least, how not long ago, we were constantly bickering with one another over trivial matters. All I had expected from her was appreciation for us to be bringing and paying for her no less, to come along with us on this vacation.

Before, she showed no such gratitude. Now, even though it's only been about three days, the impact of how extensive this trip was had hit her and she was much kinder to me. In turn, I felt it only proper to not be so impolite to her…although I feel that is partly our relationship. We bickered and threw around jabs at each other, that's how we interacted.

I made a somewhat wry reply but I wouldn't call it flirting. She playfully mocked me immediately after and I had to laugh.

But the silence was apparently hell bent on returning, seeing that it nestled its way between us again. I didn't realize but I held her gaze longer than I should have and I made her blush.

Hmm…I had no idea I had that power to do that and I liked the way her tan cheeks went lightly red. It gave her a rosier complexion.

She tied up hair to distract herself, causing her raven colored tresses to whip in my direction, spraying me with more vanilla. My body tensed up involuntarily at the scent.

I'm fairly sure I was making her uncomfortable because she refused to make eye contact with me even though I was looking at her. She started to fiddle incessantly with her hair and fingers. I was very accustomed to women behaving like this around me, seeing that many of the girls I have hosted at Ouran Academy behaved this way with me. After all, I am the "cool" type. I figured refined or debonair would fit me better but I didn't have it in me to go against Tamaki when he initially thought it up.

"I'm sorry," I said finally to Aria. "Am I making you nervous?"

I had planned on that sounding more apologetic than amused. She turned her deep green eyes at me while a smile started to spread across her lips.

What was wrong with me? Ever since Aquaventure, I was noticing more often just how pretty she was.

And today, when Kaoru came shouting out from the forest with Aria on his back, I had been more concerned that I had let on to everyone. Aria had been bleeding quite a bit, but it wasn't enough for me to have medical personnel look at it on the ship.

I had remained rather quiet as I examined her because I had not wanted to give myself away about the alarm she had caused me. Since that incident, I felt it my duty to be a little more kind to her.

The small episode also showed me how incredibly stubborn she was…and the amount of pride she had was astounding. Aria didn't like being attended to, that much was obvious. Just to get her to lie on the couch was an enormous endeavor in itself. We almost had to have the twins hold her down just so I could clean up the wound.

"What makes you think I'm nervous?" Aria asked.

I chuckled lightly. "You're fidgeting with your hair."

Her hands dropped immediately from the ponytail she was wrapping around her fingers. "That doesn't mean I'm nervous!" she snapped. She sounded just like a defiant child so I laughed again.

I stood up as I spoke. "Right…" I said skeptically. "Anyways, I believe it would be a good idea to head up for bed."

She looked like she was disappointed that I was relieving her from the awkwardness but she rose to a stand too. "Good idea."

I picked up my laptop up from the table and we made for glass elevator. I pressed the up button and it opened immediately. I let her go in before me and followed behind. She went to the back of the elevator and leaned up against the wall.

Dammit…the smell of vanilla besieged my senses once the door shut and it put me in the smallest state of euphoria.

"How is your hip?" I asked to distract me. "Is it hurting you?"

She shrugged and smiled at me. "It's fine," she said airily. "Actually, I never did thank you for today."

I smile tugged at the corner of my lips. I looked away from her and pushed up my glasses further up my nose. "No, you didn't," I replied.

Aria chuckled. "Kyoya-senpai," she said gently. I let my gaze turn back to hers. "Thank you."

She was incredibly sincere as she smiled at me. I also knew that she wasn't just thanking me for tending to her wound today but for the trip in its entirety.

"Don't mention it," I said as the door opened. Again, I let her pass me before I followed.

Our steps fell in time as we walked beside each other towards our rooms, which were on the opposite side of the ship. The silence between us now was no longer awkward, thankfully.

Once she reached her room, she stopped. I wondered if I should stop as well. I decided that I should, but I ended up walking an extra foot or so. Aria turned to me and grinned brightly.

"Good night, senpai!" she said, bowing at me.

Respectfully, I bowed at her as well. "Sleep well, Aria," I said, before walking to my room. I reached for the handle and pushed it open…before I glanced back to make sure she was going inside hers.

Aria giggled when I caught her watching me and she disappeared into her room. The door clicked behind her. I rolled my eyes before going inside.


	10. Let Loose

**Author's Note: YAYAYAYAYAYY! Update! anyways, this is merely a filler chapter. You guys get to see the different relationships that Aria has with some of the other characters. Anyways, enjoy yourselves. PLEASE REVIEW! I need constant feedback...haha okay no i don't but it's really awesome to see my review number go up and besides, I love knowing what you guys think is good and what isn't! 3 Have fuuuun! And hope you all had a happy new years! **

**I don't know anything OHSHC! just my OCs and plotline yeaaaaaaaah!**

Chapter Ten: Let Loose

Despite having gone to bed rather late, Aria rose early the next morning. She wasn't tired but she decided to take a quick shower to rinse herself off before going upstairs to wander around some more before everyone woke up.

After putting on her bathing suit on with the red spider webs, she threw on some jeans that she had cut at the knees and a red tank top.

The rest of the Host Club wasn't going to be up for about another hour or so, especially Honey or Kyoya. Aria had heard enough stories from Haruhi and Tamaki that Kyoya and Honey were monsters when they first woke up. That aside, Kyoya had gone to bed quite late the night before so…he may even miss breakfast all together.

Aria passed by her laptop that she had set on the coffee table in front of the flatscreen. The camera and video camera were plugged into it, having been uploading pictures and video to her MacBook Pro.

She paused for a moment. _I should probably check my e-mail, _she thought, making her way towards the laptop. She had a foreboding feeling of what she may find.

Aria waited patiently for it to start up and clicked on the Internet icon to start browsing. After a moment, she was logged into her e-mail account and she had many new inbox messages. All of them were from her mother and her previous apprehensive feeling was right.

She sighed heavily and opened up the first one that she had received a few days ago.

_Aria Venezia Auditore!_** (Author's note: her middle name is pronounced Veh-neh-tsee-uh)  
**

Aria cringed at the use of her middle name, which was really just a form of the word Venice. Her mother must be extremely angry with her if she _wrote _out her entire name. Aria continued to read after another moment.

_Why didn't you tell me that you were going on this cruise with a bunch of boys! Domenico told me that it's with boys who are good looking, popular, and extremely rich! So, you better not be doing something that you're going to regret! SEX LEADS TO BABIES, ARIA! SEX LEADS TO BABIES! Remember that! _

_We have been trying to call you for days and you apparently have your phone turned off! Turn your damn phone back on this instant! We need to talk about this. REPLY BACK!_

The rest of her mother's messages went as such, as well as including how angry she was that Aria hadn't told her and had to hear it from one of the boys she was on the trip with. Aria could only assume that she was referring to Kyoya because she didn't think any of the other Host Club members would have cared enough to call her parents. Her mother also kept reiterating her point on the face that sex invariably leads to pregnancy and that she was not ready to be a grandma yet; Aria's irritation spiked at this.

Her mother, Elena, was definitely melodramatic, but Aria loved her anyways, although Elena's flamboyant and almost obnoxious attitude has caused Aria some embarrassment in the past. It took a lot to embarrass Aria but her mom knew exactly what buttons to push. Elena also jumped to conclusions before really thinking them through; Aria and her mother were almost polar opposites in personalities. Aria was a lot more grounded than Elena, whereas her mother always had her head up in the clouds. Sometimes, Aria thought maybe she was the adult and her mother was the child.

So for Elena to suddenly become the "overbearing, mother" figure was very amusing to Aria. She rarely ever had to hear it from her mom.

Aria reached to place her fingers on the keys so she could type her reply back.

_Mom…_

_Okay, you're right. I'm sorry that I didn't call or tell you that I was going on a cruise. But Dom told me that he would take care of it and so I believed him. There isn't much I could do anyways. I had to go…you know that. I'm sure whoever you talked to told you that if I didn't come, I'd have to pay back the money…and we can't afford that._

_Yes, my phone doesn't get service out here in the Caribbean, mom. It's roaming if I call and I can't text. I'm sorry but at least I can talk to you this way. I'm sorry, really. Maybe the phones on the ship might be able to reach a tower or something and I can call you that way. I'll have to ask but I can't guarantee it._

_Oh, on the bright side, I'm taking lots of beautiful pictures and I'm sure years from now, when we look at them, we will laugh about the entire situation. __ haha _

_Please don't worry about me and I'm sorry I wasn't able to come home for the break but it wasn't like I wasn't just at home. I mean, we would have only been in school for two weeks and then have to fly back out to see you again. _

_And I _know _sex has the possibility of leading to pregnancy, mother. Honestly, you think I'm that retarded? Besides, it isn't with a bunch of boys. There's plenty of females on the ship. But to reassure you, I'm not running around and lifting up my skirt to anyone who wants me. Jeeze…I'm not a tramp._

_Anyways, I'll e-mail you again soon. Please don't e-mail a thousand times a day because I very rarely have the time to look at them but I'll make sure that I check it every night. Again, I'm fine and I miss you! I love you and tell Dom, Oriana, and daddy that I love them too. Bye!_

Aria hoped that would lessen her mother's worries at least slightly but Aria knew well enough that it wasn't going to do much at all. Instead of e-mailing Aria twenty times a day, Elena probably would tone it down to about five.

After a moment, Aria exited her e-mail. She paused, staring at her background picture of her and her family.

She wondered how her father, Angelo, could put up with Elena. He was much more levelheaded than his hair-brained wife, as well as quieter. Aria always liked to think of her parents where her mother was the social butterfly of a party and her father was the wallflower. She could see her mother being the one dancing and drinking and her father would be watching her from afar until she was being harassed by guys or was ready to puke.

Angelo was a very good-looking man, looking rather sophisticated in the picture. He was quite tall, with short, black hair, tanned skin, five o'clock shadow, and piercing chocolate colored eyes. His wife looked very young for her age; most thought Elena and Aria were sisters instead of mother and daughter. Elena had long, voluminous honey blonde hair, light green eyes, and had the fairest skin of the family, although Oriana was close. She wasn't that tall for she was shorter than Aria…but Aria was 5'7.

Domenico was a mixture of his parent's physical attributes. He had brown hair, hazel eyes, and lightly tanned skin. Aria, however, looked very much like her father, save for her green eyes, which she inherited from her mother. The Auditore's last child looked much more like Elena. Oriana also had fair skin, blonde hair, and green eyes. Sometimes, Oriana was more convinced she wasn't in fact siblings with Aria and Domenico.

As far as personality went, Aria was very much like her father, whereas Domenico took after their mother, but both took their father's sarcasm to heart. Domenico has been calming down more, now that he is getting older but he still would think up the craziest ideas or do stupid things. A few days before she left for the cruise, she came home to Dom just having caught his sleeve on fire. He was fine, except his favorite long sleeve shirt was now destroyed; both ended up laughing it off while cleaning up the mess he made. He had wanted to dinner on the table for her when she arrived, but he had failed miserably, having not been seasoned in the art of cooking.

Oriana was off in her own world, usually. Aria actually thought her sister was a little creepy, more than anything. She was thirteen, but sometimes Aria wondered if Oriana was convinced she was maybe thirty. She kept to herself, even more than Aria ever did when she lived with her parents. Oriana locked herself in her room, doing god knows what. She didn't talk much but when she did, she spoke as if she were an English Major fresh out of a University.

Her family was a little strange but she still missed them tremendously. Aria hoped she would be able to see them soon.

With another sigh, she shut down the laptop and took the cameras, shoving the point and shoot in her back pocket and slinging the video camera around her shoulder.

Aria left her room and returned to her beloved top deck, the early morning sun shining down and warming her skin. Aria felt herself smile as she gazed up at the clear sky.

There was a rhythmic thumping on her left just after she stepped out of the elevator. Aria looked over and saw Mori running around the track that went around the deck at a firm pace. His swim shorts were bouncing at his knees and he was shirtless; Aria could see sweat glistening off his skin from the sun.

She stepped aside to let him pass, thinking that he would want to keep running. However, to her surprise, Mori slowed to a stop, panting very slightly.

"Good morning, Mori-senpai!" she brightly, smiling up the tall figure.

"Morning," he replied in his usual flat voice. "Sleep well?"

Aria's smile grew wider. "I did. Thank you. You?"

"Yeah…" His answer didn't particularly shock her, seeing that "yeah" was all he ever really said.

It went silent between them for a moment, save for the wind that was passing over their heads. Aria wasn't sure what to say, and felt a little awkward because she had never held a long conversation with Mori before. He had always been the strong, silent type…therefore, she hardly knew anything about him.

"Walk with me," he said abruptly. Mori started to walk down the red track while Aria gazed after him in confusion.

She jogged up to him after he was about a couple yards away before she walked alongside him. Again, it was silent but Aria didn't feel the need anymore to say anything.

The walked around the track twice in their comfortable quiet. Mori was enigma, to say the least. Aria still wasn't sure on what his relationship to Honey was but she didn't want to ask. She felt like that was something he would have to tell her voluntarily, otherwise Aria thought she would be prying.

She knew that she could always ask Kyoya if she was really curious….

Aria had deep respect for Mori but she wasn't quite sure where it stemmed from. After a moment of thinking, she realized it was because he was always so calm in the midst of such outlandish behavior surrounding him. He never deterred from his unruffled composure.

Not to mention, Mori was a little intimidating with the way he would stare at her from time to time. Sometimes she felt like his dark eyes were staring straight into her soul. Despite the rather unapproachable demeanor Mori had, him merely being with Honey made him seem so much less…_scary_. Honey made Mori seem more protective than threatening.

Depending on if she were able to get to know Mori, she could envision him becoming a somewhat like an "older brother" figure to her…if they were ever to become close friends.

"Look."

Aria turned her gaze up, having heard Mori speak again. She followed his eyes to where he was looking at and realized he was looking out at the pure blue ocean on their right near the back of the ship.

Not far off, was a pod of whales coming up for air; one had even jumped as high as it could out of the water.

"Whoa!" she cried. Aria immediately sprinted towards the end of the deck and gripped the railing. "Mori-senpai! That was so cool!"

She didn't realize that he was smiling slightly at her child-like enthusiasm. He was use to Honey behaving in that manner but seeing Aria get excited over whales was a little amusing. Mori never said much, but he quite liked Aria's presence of the Host Club. Her being with them didn't necessarily change the dynamics of the group, because Tamaki was still over zealous, the twins were still mischievous, and Honey still behaved like a child…. Aria easily nestled herself into the Host Club's ways and dealt with the insanity quite well. She was just…there, much like he was.

Mori was shrewd, as observers usually are. He could easily see that Kaoru liked Aria and she felt somewhat the same way for him. Mori also noticed that Kyoya was beginning to act a little strange around Aria; he wasn't sure if that was Kyoya liked her…or maybe the heat was getting to him.

A blinding flash of light brought Mori out of his thinking. After a moment, his eyes cleared and he gazed at Aria, who had her camera out. She grinned.

"I think I see now what your appeal is to all those girls at the academy," she said, lowering the camera.

Mori merely made a questioning noise at her.

"You're very handsome when you're pensive," Aria giggled. He stared at her unblinkingly for a long moment before he reached out and ruffled her hair with his hand.

"You're weird."

She only laughed in agreement.

* * *

"Is this safe?" said Haruhi, with slightest note of apprehension in her voice. She was standing beside Aria, looking up at the large rock-climbing wall with the rest of the Host Club.

There were four separate walls, all side by side, and each one varied in difficulty. They were pretty tall and at the very top of each one were large red buttons to push when you finished. Aria figured it sound off a siren or a buzzing noise.

"Oh c'mon," teased Aria, going up to one of them men working the ropes. "Don't be such a baby, Haruhi."

"I'm not being a baby!" Haruhi snapped, looking slightly offended.

Aria ignored her. "Hey, Tamaki-senpai!" she called. "Us first!"

Tamaki didn't need to hear it twice and bounded up beside her. The twins decided they were going to race each other as well so the four of them were strapped up within five minutes and given helmets. Just before she was attached to the ropes to start climbing, she ran back over to the rest of the group who had decided to sit and watch them.

She shoved the camera and the video recorder into Kyoya's hands. "Proviamo a fare qualche bella foto," she said, mocking a disdainful tone. _(Translation: Let's try to take some nice pictures.)_

He smirked at her. "Sì, signorina," he replied, lowering his head at her as if he were bowing to her. _(Translation: Yes, ma'am.)_ She could see the amused look in his gray eyes.

"Aria!" whined Tamaki, impatient to start climbing. Aria tore her eyes away from Kyoya and dashed back towards the president.

"Relax, I'm coming!" Aria exclaimed, reaching up for a holding. "Alright, let's go!"

Tamaki was on a harder difficulty that she was but he was scaling the rock wall like he was Spider-man or something! Aria could barely keep up. The twins were on the hardest difficulties and were shouting utter nonsense to each other and at Tamaki. At the moment, they were betting on whoever makes it to the top first, gets to escort Haruhi to formal night tonight. Aria had a hard time climbing because she was laughing so hard when Tamaki's eyes practically turned to flames. Even the ship employees who were below them manning the ropes were letting out their own little laughs here and there.

"I will make it to the top before either of you two do! That's a promise" he shouted back. "I won't let anyone escort my precious daughter to formal night other than myself!"

And so the race began. The twins were certainly having a hard time but were generally able to keep up with Tamaki's fast pace. He was determined to win.

Haruhi, having heard the bet, was shouting at the twins from below about how ridiculous they were to bet on escorting her. She also stated she wasn't a toy or a prize to be won. However, none of the boys scaling the rock wall really paid her mind and she gave up.

About half way up, Tamaki was stuck, which gave Aria the opportunity to catch up to him. The way their walls were set up, they had climbed almost into each other's sections. Right now, they were close.

Aria paused, letting her forearms rest since they were screaming at her for the sudden burst of exercise. She watched as Tamaki struggled to grasp the next holding because it was so far up and out of his reach.

"Stuck?" she teased with a giggle.

"I'm not stuck," he replied, his breathing labored. "I'm thinking."

She laughed. "Lies!" she cried with a grin. "Well, you should probably hurry up with that thinking of yours because the twins are passing you."

Aria watched as Tamaki's face reddened after he looked over to his left and saw that the Hitachiin brothers were beginning to pass him up. "No!" he yelled, leaping up for the next hold, which he caught. "I can't let them win!"

Aria smiled to herself and dropped her voice. "Senpai…why don't you just tell Haruhi that you like her?"

Tamaki was in the process of reaching for another rock when he slipped and fell. The ropes caught him, so he was dangling in mid-air, but he caused a bit of alarm when he yelped. Aria couldn't help but burst out laughing at his reaction.

"My love for Haruhi is purely paternal, I can assure you," said Tamaki, sounding lofty, once he was grasping the wall holding again. Aria raised an eyebrow, unconvinced but she still was smirking widely at him.

"Senpai!" called Haruhi before Aria could reply. Both looked down at Haruhi's small figure below. "Are you okay?"

Aria saw Tamaki's eyes practically sparkle with joy. "Oh, my little girl was worried I was hurt," he murmured to himself. Aria couldn't help but snort at his delusions of him being Haruhi's father. Tamaki raised his voice louder after a moment. "My dear Haruhi, were you afraid that I was in some sort of danger? Don't worry, daddy is fine and I will beat the lascivious twins so I may escort you to our wonderful formal evening together, where we dance the night away, with a beautiful Caribbean sunset as out background!"

Even from this height, Aria could see the irritation that Haruhi was feeling because of the way Tamaki had suddenly turned it into something mildly creepy…again. Haruhi didn't even bother to reply and turned back towards the others who were sitting down and watching. She was definitely annoyed just by how she sat back down in her chair so ungracefully.

"Father's don't generally have the same feelings you're having for their daughters, Tamaki-senpai," said Aria, beginning to climb again. "And I hate to break it to you but you're not her 'daddy.'"

She glanced over and saw Tamaki gazing at her with a sad, puppy-dog like expression. "I'm not?" he asked.

"You're retarded…" Aria said, shaking her head. "Why on earth-?"

A loud siren noise sounded over them and both snapped their gazes up. The twins had reached the top and had slammed their hands on the buzzers to signal they've finished.

"_NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" _Tamaki bellowed, over embellishing the length of the one syllable word.

The Hitachiin brother promptly let out triumphant laughs. "Beat you boss!" they called down in a taunting fashion.

"Now, we get to escort Haruhi to formal night tonight!" said Hikaru, looking far more pleased than his brother.

"And we get to see her all dressed up and looking beautiful before _you _do," said Kaoru teasingly.

Tamaki then promptly started yelling for a rematch but the twins refused as they all scaled back down to the floor. Aria found their bickering highly amusing but Haruhi didn't seem to feel the same because it was over her.

"You guys can't just go making bets that involve me without my approval!" she shouted at the three of them. None of them really seemed to hear her as they were still arguing, the twins more playfully than Tamaki, about the bet.

Aria sighed. Haruhi was a little too uptight sometimes. "Jeeze, lighten up," she laughed, patting Haruhi on the arm. "What's wrong with a couple of good-looking boys fussing over you?"

Haruhi didn't look remotely amused. "It's stupid, that's what."

Aria let the subject drop, not really wanting to get in Haruhi's line of wrath.

Mori and Honey decided to climb the wall as well…but Tamaki had to urge Haruhi to climb it. She didn't seem interested, as she had refused about three times before Tamaki's patented puppy-dog face was used on her. She then decided grudgingly that she would try it. Tamaki, now thrilled with the idea of climbing alongside his beautiful "daughter," was going to climb again.

Kyoya refused point blank to partake in the endeavor of climbing a fake rock wall. This didn't surprise anyone and no one pressed the issue.

"We'll be back!" sang the twins as the others were getting their gear on. Aria raised an eyebrow.

"Where are you going?"

The Hitachiin brothers gave her wry smirks and leaned towards her. She was sitting in a plush chair, soaking in the sun, but now they were blocking her rays since they were only about half a foot from her face. Aria leaned back a little to take back more of her personal bubble that was being invaded.

They wrapped an arm around each other. "We have to use the bathroom," they said, clearly lying through their teeth. The boys winked at her.

"Right," Aria said skeptically. "Don't have too much fun in there, boys. Let's keep it PG."

They stuck their tongues out at her childishly and dashed off to find a bathroom.

Aria turned to Kyoya. "Devo preoccuparmi?" she asked. _(Translation: Should I be worried?) _He chuckled lightly and handed her the camera and video camera back.

"Con quei due?" he replied, adjusting his glasses. "Sempre..." _(Translation: With those two? Always...)_

She smiled back and snapped a quick picture of him, since he was smiling at her.

Sure enough, about ten minutes later, the twins were back with a small cooler. Aria sat up, wondering what exactly they were doing. They brought it towards the wall, the ship employees not noticing that they were there.

Before Aria or Kyoya could ask, they were shown.

The twins quickly hurled out water balloons of all colors at Tamaki. Hikaru's first one hit right above Tamaki's head so when it connected with the wall, it broke, spraying water in Tamaki's face. Kaoru's hit his back, creating a loud smack before shattering.

At the abrupt attack, Tamaki slipped and fell due to his being jolted in surprise. He of course, the employee manning Tamaki's ropes caught him and he dangled in mid air as little balloons of red, blue, green, etc were being chucked at him.

The Hitachiin brothers didn't stop until they ran out...and when they did, Tamaki had been lowered to the deck. He looked like he was going to push them off the boat. Aria was laughing, as well as video taping and snapping pictures of the event. Of course, none of this would make it into her official Host Club video but...she was glad it was going to be around for years to come.

The Host Club was crazy but she definitley was glad that she had been dragged along on the trip.

* * *

It was only about an hour until the twins were going to pick up Haruhi to escort her to formal night. They were running slightly behind, mainly because they had come from watching a movie in the movie theater.

Aria turned up the volume when she heard _Kings and Queens _come on by 30 Seconds to Mars on the stereo where her iPod was plugged in. The system played the music throughout the entire room and it drowned out the noise from the shower, where Haruhi was at the moment; Aria had already showered and dried her hair.

Once she slipped on her underwear and snapped on her strapless bra, she couldn't help but start rocking out when the chorus of the song came on. She very nearly started to jump on the bed but she remembered that their dresses were laying on it…so she went back to just playing her air guitar and singing as loud as she could.

The music suddenly stopped and Aria whirled around to where her iPod was. She found Haruhi staring at her with a mixture of confusion and amusement…all while wrapped in a short white towel and dripping water.

"Hey!" Aria exclaimed, slightly annoyed. "That song is epic! You killed it!"

Haruhi sort of chuckled. "I'm sorry, but dancing around in your underwear is a little weird," she replied.

There was her uptight attitude again. Aria sighed. "Weird?" she scoffed. "I beg to differ. Dancing around and singing like that is a way to just let go of stress."

Haruhi did not look convinced. "You just looked like you were whipping your hair around…which would just give me a headache."

Aria wanted to strangle her. She was so closed off and so uneasy. Sure, Haruhi claimed to be comfortable with herself but Aria could see that she really wasn't. Haruhi was still trying to find herself…just like every other teenager on the planet.

"Sometimes," Aria said, turning around while Haruhi put on her own underwear, "you just have to let loose. In your case, you're in _dire _need of it."

She turned around and saw Haruhi giving her a bit of a dirty look. "No I don't," she said.

"C'mon!" urged Aria. "Let's dance!"

She ran over to the stereo, while Haruhi protested vehemently that she didn't know how to dance, nor did she want to. Aria resumed play on the song and started to bob her head like a headbanger. She started up her air guitar again as she skipped around the room.

"You look ridiculous!" shouted Haruhi over the music but Aria could see her beginning to smile. Aria shook her head almost violently, having the best time just being herself and she could see that Haruhi was at least amused to some degree.

The song changed to _Yeah 3x _by Chris Brown, which was a dance song. Aria figured it would be easier to dance to, rather than rock music. She took Haruhi's hands into hers and started to dance with her.

Haruhi was stiff, she barely let Aria swing her around. She didn't like the idea of them both dancing around in their underwear, feeling it was a little too personal and she had never really had a friend quite like Aria before who constantly pushed her to just let down her walls around her.

"C'mon!" Aria cried, grinning ear to ear. "Just let loose!"

Haruhi hesitated but slowly…she let herself get into the music, not that she really liked it or understood what was being sung. She wasn't nearly as crazy as Aria was dancing but she did loosen up a little.

Both girls laughed at the end of the song…. Aria was glad that Haruhi was able to relax a bit. They both were out of breath as Aria turned down the music low enough so they could talk.

"That was fun!"

Haruhi rolled her eyes but agreed.

"We should get ready now," she advised. Aria made a face but went to the bathroom to start her curling iron and take out her make-up case.

With about ten minutes to spare, they were ready for dinner.

Aria had done Haruhi's hair in a messy, chic style and gave her a little more dramatic make-up this time. She used more eyeshadow, causing Haruhi to complain…but Haruhi still looked very stunning so she remained silent after a while. She chose to wear her baby blue cocktail dress; it was spaghetti strapped and had a small wrap and bow around the middle.

Surprisingly, Aria had enough time to do a small up-do for her own hair. It was half up and half down and she had curled it. She decided to go with simpler make-up for herself, using natural eyeshadows and sheer gloss for her lips. Aria wanted to wear her ornate one strap formal dress. The dress was a light purple, similar to peony, and was floor length. The fabric was shimmered and gathered to the side to accentuate her figure. Where the fabric gathered was a sparkling brooch that sat about mid thigh and it gave her a sensational mermaid bottom.

"You make me feel underdressed," Haruhi said, gazing at her.

Aria laughed. "Cocktail dresses are more you…I think you look beautiful."

Haruhi sort of blushed just as there was a knock at the door downstairs.

Aria checked Haruhi and herself over one more time before they went to meet the twins at the door. "Ready?" she asked Haruhi.

"I guess…" Haruhi replied with a minor bit of dread, checking her heels to see if they were strapped on tight enough. Aria grinned.

"Let's go!"

* * *

**So, I posted these before but if you're curious about the dresses that the girls are wearing, here are the links. kay! Just put promgirl in front of .com/blahblahblah  
**

_Haruhi (she looks thinner though)_**  
**

.com/shop/dresses/viewitem-PD533838

_Aria_

.com/shop/dresses/viewitem-PD485666


	11. Allure

**Author's note: *in a sing song voice* update, yay for updates! ohhhh updates, everyone loves updates! *end sing song voice* hahah. Hi, everyone! Hope you enjoy this newest chapter of my story. So, it would seem that this beginning to get out of hand. Boys boys boys...*heavy sigh* they make things so difficult! haha Anyways, I felt like I was losing character personalities...so I started watching the anime again. Yeah...in a sense, I did lose their personalities a little. But I do feel that when it is in Kaoru's or Kyoya's perspective, they're talking to themselves and so they're being very real. So yeah...maybe Kyoya isn't quite how he is in the anime/manga but then again, their is no Aria in the anime or manga. Anyways, people change too. Oh, something in the next few chapters...I think somehow, Aria's fam bam is going to appear. haha maybe to torture her a little. Yay for family! I'm done rambling now. :)  
**

**PLEASE REVIEW! Feedback is very important to me because I want to know if you guys like this or not (meaning the way I'm going about the story.) I love opinions, even harsh ones. So please, don't hesitate to bash or criticize! If you are confused or have questions, say it! I'll be happy to answer anyone. Enjoy!**

**I don't own anything OHSHC. I only claim my OCs and plotline! YAY!**

Chapter Eleven: Allure

I could tell Hikaru was getting anxious as we were getting dressed to escort Haruhi to formal night. I was hoping that he, Haruhi, or even Aria would protest against Haruhi having two escorts and "force" me to escort Aria.

Today, the Host Club members, well…not Haruhi, are required to wear, per the boss's demand, white over black tuxes. All of us had on white slacks, white button up shirts, and white jackets. Our vests, ties, shoes, and the piece of cloth in the pocket on our chests were black to contrast with the white.

I won't lie, I was feeling a little uneasy myself…I guess I was just excited to see Aria in her dress. She looked so beautiful the last time…I'm sure she was going to look just as stunning. That reason, now that I'm thinking of it, seemed a little silly to get so nervous over but I couldn't help it. My body does what it wants to.

We styled our hair as we always did, brushed our teeth…everything. Even after all of it, we had about a half hour before were expected to pick up Haruhi. We decided to play a game of Smash Bros. Brawl on the Wii downstairs since we had nothing else better to do than occupy our time.

Our team kicked the computer's ass, which was fully expected even though the AI characters were at their hardest level. It wasted about twenty minutes of our time before we got ready to go.

Hikaru turned to me with an almost unsure grin, which was a little weird seeing that we are always quite sure of ourselves. "Ready?" he asked me. I smiled back at my twin.

"Ready," I answered putting an arm around his shoulder reassuringly. I could tell he was nervous again, which in turn, sort of made me nervous.

It was just an unsaid thought that he and I didn't discuss the girls that we like with each other. I don't know why we didn't just come out and say "Hey, I like Aria" or "Hey, I like Haruhi." I guess it was because we knew everything about each other so we didn't _have _to talk about it.

The rest of the Host Club were leaving their rooms to go to Serenity Dining Hall; we could hear Honey-senpai talking incessantly about how beautiful Haruhi and Aria were going to look. I heard Mori-senpai utter his usual "yeah" and then it was quiet.

We checked each other over again, from head to toe before Hikaru opened the door so we could escort Haruhi…and hopefully Aria for myself, to dinner.

I stepped into the hallway before Hikaru and I felt my heart stop.

Kyoya-senpai was bowing deeply at the girls, who were in the doorway of Aria's room. I couldn't see the girls very well, as they were shadowed by Kyoya-senpai so I had no idea how they were dressed. I heard Aria's familiar giggle.

"Senpai!" she laughed. "You didn't have to escort me. I would have been fine."

Kyoya-senpai stood up straighter and I saw him smile directly at Aria. "Hikaru and Kaoru were escorting Haruhi, due to the fact that they won the bet. That'd be quite rude if you were to walk alone."

"Well, aren't you kind…?" Haruhi said sarcastically.

Kyoya-senpai gave his signature chuckle before replying. "You ladies look lovely, by the way."

The girls thanked him in their own way; Haruhi didn't sound convinced but Aria sounded very appreciative of his thought and complimented him in return.

Hikaru said something beside to me, and they all turned to look at us. I, apparently, wasn't able to say anything. Aria squealed at our appearance and complimented us. I automatically said thank you in a nearly conceited manner, as did Hikaru…but it was forced.

I was mad.

The anger that was rising up inside my chest was so hard to control but I couldn't help it. To know that Kyoya-senpai was "stealing" what was mine caused jealousy and near rage to run through my veins.

Why now? Why did he suddenly have to show interest _now? _I just was no match for Kyoya-senpai. He was so much more…refined than my brother and I were…specifically me. Dammit!

But reasoning suddenly attacked my fury and I calmed down a little. It was Kyoya-senpai…. I could never _hate _Kyoya-senpai, like Hikaru could never _hate _the boss, even though he spent a lot of time with Haruhi. Those two were nothing but kind to us.

I wish I could hate him though.

When my eyes met Aria's, I could see that she knew something was up with me. Damn that girl! She could see through everything, even as I acted as if nothing was wrong. In a small way, I was little angry with her as well. It wasn't fair though, I know that…but I was just irritated how she would be so innocently flirtatious with everyone, which is probably how Kyoya got hooked.

She was still staring at me with curious eyes.

* * *

When Aria opened the door, she fully expected to see two identical twins grinning wryly at her and Haruhi. However, the Hitachiin brothers weren't the ones standing there…but Kyoya was. Aria's stomach did a complete back flip at the sight of him.

He looked amazing in his fitted, white on black tuxedo.

"Kyoya-senpai?" said Haruhi, confused. She had been able to speak quicker than Aria had been able to. "What are _you _doing here?"

He smiled. "I came to escort Aria," he replied in that idiotically smooth voice that Aria hated…and liked. Then Kyoya bowed at them respectfully.

Finally, Aria overcame her shock and giggled in a mixture of embarrassment and amusement. "Senpai, you didn't have to escort me. I would have been fine."

When he straightened back up, he was smiling coolly at her, which made Aria blush because he was gazing directly into her eyes. She averted her eyes quickly and brushed hair out of her face somewhat nervously.

"Hikaru and Kaoru were escorting Haruhi, due to the fact that they won the bet. That'd be quite rude if you were to walk alone," he replied.

Haruhi rolled her eyes, unbeknownst to the either of them. "Well, aren't you kind?" she said sardonically.

Kyoya chuckled lightly…again, Aria could tell he was genuinely in a good mood. All of a sudden, he wasn't hiding behind a mask anymore like he had been. She wondered what changed.

"You ladies look lovely, by the way," Kyoya said politely.

Haruhi took this moment to snort, skeptical about his statement. "Thanks," she replied curtly. Aria however, had a rather bright smile on her face.

"Thank you, senpai!" she said. "You look rather dashing yourself."

He smiled and began to open his mouth to reply but just behind him, someone cleared their throat purposefully. The three of them turned to see that the Hitachiin brothers had just stepped into the hallway, both wearing the same tuxedo that Kyoya was wearing.

Aria grinned at them. "Aw," she nearly squealed. "You guys look so handsome!"

"Thank you!" they replied in unison.

She could tell that both had spoken mechanically…but she also noticed that there was a very dark look in Kaoru's eyes. Aria couldn't quite place it but she could see that he looked angry…furious, in fact.

Kaoru angry? She wasn't even sure if that was possible…or plausible. Aria had never seen him look at her with such hidden contempt.

It wasn't hard to see that he was trying to cover it up with being his normal, quirky self…but Aria knew him well enough to know…that it was fake. Her irritation, seeing that those who act fake was her pet peeve, spiked a little. Kaoru never had to pretend or cover anything up with her, so why the hell was he doing it now?

That aside, why _was _he so angry with her in the first place? A couple of hours ago, he had been just fine. She wondered what had transpired since then.

"Well, well, _well!" _said Hikaru once he saw Aria and Haruhi in full. "Don't you ladies look stunning?"

"Picture perfect in every way," added Kaoru though to Aria, she could detect that he had to force it out of himself.

The girls thanked them.

"We should probably head to the dining hall. The others are waiting," said Kyoya, pulling back his sleeve a little to check the time on his watch. The others agreed and the twins held out their arms for Haruhi.

She snorted. "This is stupid," she groaned. "I don't need the _two _of you, let alone an escort all together."

"They did win the bet," offered Aria with an amused grin.

Haruhi shot her a small death glare. "You're not helping."

Aria threw up her hands to signify that she would keep the peace, despite that she was smiling. Haruhi cast one last dark look at her before she took both the twins' arms. Aria tried to contain her grin as Hikaru made a remark about how awkward she was in heels.

Kaoru, however, was not paying attention to picking on Haruhi and was busy giving Kyoya a dark look from behind his back. Aria, having just about enough of being confused as to what he was so annoyed with, was about to call him out on it…that is, before Kyoya spoke up.

"Did you have everything before we go?" he asked, having no idea that he had just saved the group from a potentially awkward situation. Aria tore her eyes away from Kaoru, who hadn't noticed that she was watching him, and turned her gaze to Kyoya, thoughtful.

Her eyes brightened. "Oh, crap!" she said, turning on her heel. "The cameras!"

She thought she had left them by her laptop on the coffee table behind her in the living room. However, upon checking, they weren't there. _Of course, _she thought darkly.

"Go on without me!" she called as she went upstairs. "I'll meet you guys there. I have to find the cameras!"

Aria carefully made her way up the stairs, not wanting to tear or step on her dress, ruin her hair, or trip and fall down the stairs. Any one or any combination of those possible misfortunes would be a damper on the night and highly embarrassing to recount.

She heard Kyoya say something but she didn't quite catch it because it was muffled somewhat. All she heard was, "…help…cameras…two can…long….Tamaki…dinner too."

The twins replied back but she didn't hear that either as she searched the bathroom she had left a complete mess with all her make up and hair supplies. She was almost positive that she hadn't had them in here but she was checking just in case.

Aria was confused. She _swore _she put the cameras on the table so she could upload pictures and video while she was getting ready for dinner. She was in a bit of a panic too because she didn't want the Ice King to come back…Kyoya was a little scary when he was irritated.

_He'll kill me if I don't find them…_she thought helplessly. Aria had only been looking for three minutes but she kept thinking of the worst.

She retraced her steps. She _knew _she had them when she got back from watching a movie in the theater. Aria had in them in her bag and pulled them out so she could specifically put them aside.

That's where she drew her blank. She had set her bag on the bed pulled them out…and then what? _Fuck…_she thought coarsely. _What the hell did I do with them?_

"Vuoi un aiuto?" Kyoya's voice asked from behind her, causing her to jump. She had thought he had left with the others; Aria hadn't expected him to help her._ (Translation: Would you like some help?) _That aside, her being in a state of worry was making her jumpy.

Her heart started to beat faster. _Ah! What if I don't find them! And he is _here_…he's going to slit my throat!_

Kyoya was at the top of the stairs, his hand still on the railing, while radiating an air of overconfidence like always did. Aria wasn't so much affected by that as much as she was when he would smirk at her now.

"No, it's fine. I just can't remember where I put them. I thought I had set them down by my laptop. You don't have to wait for me," she said, successfully tearing her eyes away from him. Aria had to admit…he looked _very _handsome in his tux. Him standing there watching her made her frazzled in a way…something that has never happened around anyone she had met. She didn't even speak Italian back because she was _that _nervous.

"Don't be ridiculous, Aria," he said smoothly. "I'm still going to escort you to dinner."

She glanced at him; he was speaking in Japanese again. She felt guilt settle in the pit of her stomach but she didn't understand why. She could feel him looking at her…but she couldn't hold his gaze for long. Every time she did, she caught herself starting to blush.

Aria started to rummage through her closet absently, feeling awkward again, for reasons known and unknown. She saw from her peripheral vision that Kyoya walked past her and started to open one of her drawers.

He paused. "Do you mind if I look?" he asked, turning his gaze at her. She understood that he didn't want to look who her things without permission; he was just trying to be a gentleman.

"Uh, no," she said lamely. "Go ahead…just don't look in the top left drawer. That's where…"

She faded off, feeling her cheeks flush a little. Kyoya knew what she was trying to say and smirked at her. That drawer was off limits to anyone…because that was where her intimate clothing was.

"Of course," he replied. The almost impish grin only grew wider after Aria had looked at him for a few moments longer than necessary.

Aria was undecided if she liked the way the smirk came about but she turned away finally when he started to dig through her shirts to see if the cameras were there. Aria could tell he was not putting much effort into it; she figured that he was thinking that it probably wouldn't be in there.

After he searched the drawer, he closed it. Aria still kept looking stupidly through her closet, even though she had gone through it twice. She just didn't know what else to look…and for some reason, being alone with Kyoya was making her uneasy…but in a good way. Her thoughts were all jumbled together and weren't flowing very well.

_This is so stupid…_she thought helplessly. _Why am I so fricken nervous!_

He disappeared from her sight after he cleared another drawer. She wondered what he was doing behind her but she kept digging in her jacket pockets that were in her closet to keep herself busy. She listened intently as he searched what sounded like the nightstands.

"Found them."

Relief washed over Aria like a tidal wave. She turned to him smiling. "No way!" she exclaimed, seeing him holding in his hands. "Where were they?"

Kyoya smiled. "In your bed," he said, gesturing towards her messy bed. Aria laughed. She must have lost them in the covers and sheets when she had taken them out of her beach bag.

"Oh…" she said. "My bad."

"Did you want to take both?" he asked. Aria shook her head.

"No, I was just going to bring the camera along to take pictures."

He nodded and then handed her the camera. "I'll leave this _here _so you can find it easier next time," chided Kyoya teasingly as set the video camera down on her dresser under the second flatscreen. Aria stuck her tongue out at him playfully before they headed down the stairs.

They left her room just after shutting her door and made their way towards the elevator. Now that Aria didn't feel like her life was on the line, the silence wasn't so tense for her, which she was grateful for.

Kyoya let her step in before him and followed after her. He pushed the button for the floor above them before he turned his gaze at her.

Aria glanced up at him and smiled.

"Hai un aspetto incredibilmente bello stasera, Aria," he said suddenly, a serene look in his eyes. Aria felt her heart practically stop.

_You look incredibly beautiful tonight, Aria._

_

* * *

_

I think she thought that I was going to be angry with her because she couldn't find the cameras. Aria was clearly in a state of panic when I came upstairs to the loft area; she had been tossing things everywhere hurriedly. I don't know why she searched in the bathroom.

She refused to meet my gaze and she didn't speak in Italian after I had.

That bothered me somewhat. I was accustomed to conversing in that tongue when we were alone or away from the other Host Club members…and for her not to fall into it like she normally did…it was a tiny jab to the ego.

Finding the cameras was about as difficult as calculus was for me (which meant it was easy) and soon we were on our way to Serenity Dining Hall. I wondered if Tamaki actually waited for us or decided to listen to me for once and just begin dinner without us.

Like the night before, she smelled intensely of vanilla. However, today I was able to control myself better and not appear as if I had a stick up in places that it shouldn't be. Although, I still was compelled to touch her tanned skin multiple times already within the course of fifteen minutes. Thankfully, I had resisted the urge.

In the elevator, the aroma of vanilla was overwhelming…so overwhelming that it was practically making my head spin. This was hardly fair.

The one thing I haven't been able to control is the excessive need to stare at her.

Aquaventure had been the defining moment. Now, every time I see her, I keep admonishing myself for not seeing how beautiful she was sooner.

At first, I could not see past her status, monetarily speaking…and because of my absurdity and the lack of my willingness to get over her first impression, she and I had argued constantly. I thought I was going to dislike her forever.

But Aria had grown on me…quite rapidly too.

Aria was her own person and was very much independent. She was comfortable in her own skin but had the ability to adapt to anyone's character. That was the difference between her and Haruhi.

She was quite the mystery to me, which was the allure to me. Aria surprised me often with her behavior…

…and with the way she could make herself even more attractive than she was.

Aria in her purple, mermaid dress would make a lewd man attack her. However, I was of higher class and was far more sophisticated than those monsters similar to the ones I had wanted to murder at Aquaventure. Therefore, I was reduced to staring blankly at her.

In the elevator, she caught me doing just that…and instead of turning away and blushing like she had the last few times, she merely smiled up at me.

"Hai un aspetto incredibilmente bello stasera, Aria."

Idiot!

It had slipped. I had the intention of stating she looked pretty...not incredibly beautiful. Of course, I had maintained my composure and smiled down at her to cover the feeling of stupidity that had caught in my throat.

I had never seen someone with her skin color blush as darkly as she did. Her cheeks were very rosy, which only increased her attractiveness ten fold. This girl was killing me.

In a very short amount of time, she had me hate her...to falling for her.

Yes, I admitted it..._don't_ tell Tamaki because he would only come back with a "I told you so!" That was not something I wanted to hear for the rest of the vacation. He had been goading me about Aria and I for the last week now. He was convinced that we were "destined to be as one." Tamaki was ridiculous. The end.

I wasn't falling for Aria merely for the fact that she was beautiful...though that is like an added bonus. It was...the personality I couldn't fathom. I didn't understand her, at all, in fact…and the more I learned about her, the _real _her, not the basic facts that I had researched of her, the more I realized how much I was fond of her.

Aria had turned away but there was an embarrassed grin at her lips. I figured her being extremely self-conscious would be the outcome of my idiotic confession...but as quickly as she was embarrassed, it vanished.

"Grazie," she said, a wry look in her emerald eyes, "ma dovrete fare di meglio per impressionare me."_ (Translation: Thank you, but you'll have to do better than that to impress me.)_

At that moment...I understood what she was doing. She had resolved to play the "hard-to-get" role, which in turn, made her more appealing in my eyes. She wasn't going to let me win her over so easily and thinking it over, I didn't _want _her to make this easy for me. Aria wanted a chase...and with her statement, she was daring me to chase.

Well, in her gamer terms, game on.

I am Kyoya Ootori...I have the ability to charm any girl from Ouran Academy and beyond. Give me a day and I am positive I could have any girl eating out of my hand. I am wealthy...I know I am one of the finest looking young men around. I am incredibly intelligent...what woman would not want me?

Yet, Aria has turned it all around and I'm the one who is falling. My world is completely different. I don't have the upper hand anymore, she does...and I think she is beginning to realize it.

She was still gazing at me with a dark smirk. My fingers twitched beside me; I wanted to reach out and touch her face...

Thank god the elevator door slid open just then...otherwise I may have done something that I would regret. Actually, I know I would have done something.

Aria didn't even wait for me to gesture for her to step out first. She exited the elevator, not before she turned to flash me a wink. She walked gracefully out but didn't stop to wait for me.

"Questo dovrebbe essere interessante," I said under my breath before I walked on after her. (Translation: This should be interesting.)

I caught up with Aria by the time we reached the glass double doors for the dining room because she had stopped to wait for me. She offered her arm absently to me while making a noise of disdain, as if she was suddenly of high class and _I_ was the commoner. I couldn't help but laugh aloud; she apparently was taking this "chase game" to heart.

Aria cast an overconfident glance in my direction, to which I knew she was only playfully giving me. "Da questa parte, signorina," I said in a reverential tone. (Translation: Right this way, miss.)

I led her by the arm gently, secretly feeling smug that someone like her was at my arm. Dear god…I have to pull myself together….

* * *

"Where are we docked today, Kyo-chan?" asked Honey in his usual chipper voice the next morning at breakfast. Kyoya, who was absently writing away on his notebook, looked up to find everyone staring at him, waiting for his reply.

He sat back in his chair before answering. "The Ootori family's island resort and spa. We call it Allure Island," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Aria, unbeknownst to all the others, rolled her eyes. _The Ootori family might as well own half the damn world at this rate, _she mused while chewing idly on her sourdough toast.

At this, there was some excitement from the Host Members. The idea of them being able to relax, as if they weren't doing that already, was very appealing to them.

"Wait…Kyoya-senpai," interrupted Haruhi, "I thought the Ootori group only ran hospitals…and were focused solely on medical business?"

Kyoya chuckled lightly. "Yes," he said in a offhand fashion. "But my family likes to diversify and try different things. Besides, the island could be classified as a medicinal facility. It's therapeutic, in a sense."

"Yeah right," muttered Aria, not convinced. Kyoya glanced at her and smiled blandly at her.

"Allure Island is for those adults who are overworked and are in desperate need of some relaxation. Why not get away for a few days in the Caribbean at Allure Island Spa and Resort?" he explained.

Aria could not stifle a snort. Kyoya sounded like he was some infomercial about the place. "Because they can do that at a local spa in their own city without spending a fortune to fly to the Caribbean," she replied; not to anyone specifically but she made her point.

"And the people who actually _need _a day or two to relax are the ones who can't afford to do so," added Haruhi, pushing her eggs around her plate.

The twins, who sat across from Haruhi and Aria, both sighed. "You two are mega killjoys," they said, giving the girls somewhat bland looks.

"Allure Island is the best place in the world to unwind. It's for those who are serious about indulging in relaxation," said Kyoya before either of the girls could reply.

"And for those who are sickeningly wealthy," said Aria, looking innocent as the twins gave her another dark look.

Tamaki, however, was quite excited for this. "We can all be pampered like the princes and princesses we are!" he exclaimed, suddenly standing up. He was in a victorious looking pose, with a foot on the table and his arm thrust up into the air.

Aria stared at him. "See, didn't I tell you, senpai?" she said. "You yell ninety percent of what you say!"

The table all laughed at her statement, other than Tamaki who sat down and looked put out.

Breakfast was a little less rowdy after that, mainly because Tamaki thought it was necessary to hiss everything he spoke. Aria and the twins found this highly amusing and something else to pick on him for.

Aria was actually excited for today's excursion. Kyoya had explained to her that it was similar to a day spa that anyone could go to but was more…luxurious. It included massages of all types, hot pools to sit in, saunas, mud baths, facials, manicures and pedicures, showers, and hairstylists if anyone wanted to get their hair cut, trimmed, and/or dyed.

Tamaki _did _have a point. Aria was expecting a full day of pampering.


	12. Family

**Author's Note: WOW! this is probably the shortest update I have ever put up...so it makes me a little sad. Anyways, have fun and enjoy. I'm sorry if it seems a little rushed. I've been sort of distracted with all kinds of things lately...plus I just feel like I had writer's block for this part so again, forgive me. Enjoy! OH! Review it, yeah? I love reviews! You guys make me happy when you review it. I don't care if you're going to hate on it. That's cool too.**

**I don't own anything OHSHC. just my plotline and OCs**

Chapter Twelve: Family

"Welcome to Allure Island Spa and Resort!"

Aria's right eyelid twitched involuntarily at the sight of three men and two women, all in sky blue collared shirts that said "Allure Island" in the left hand corner, grinning brightly at the Host Club and her. The resort workers had spoken in the same perfect unison the Hitachiin brothers always did…but they added far too much enthusiasm and "pep in their step" for it to be genuine.

"Hello, Mr. Ootori," said one of them men with short brown hair. He was older than the rest; he looked about forty or so. "Thank you for taking the time and visiting your family's resort. You and your friends will not leave here without being completely pampered and relaxed. We guarantee it!"

_Pamper is the word of the day, it seems, _thought Aria idly as Kyoya continued to talk to the man, who was apparently the head manager of the entire place.

She felt two arms rest on either side of her shoulders. "Do you want to join us in the hot spring, Aria?" the twins asked seductively in her ears. Aria rolled her eyes.

"Well, since you asked me like that, hell no," she replied casually.

"But think of all the _fun_ we'll have," they continued, creepily emphasizing the word fun to an extent that Aria didn't particularly like.

Aria stepped away so she could turn and look at them darkly. "You two are possibly the most perverted people I know…" she said, crossing her arms. The twins wrapped their own arms around each other, their faces too close again for her liking.

"Not perverted," said Hikaru in a provocative tone.

"Just enticing…" finished Kaoru in a very similar voice.

Aria laughed. "Right," she replied skeptically. "I'll remember that if I'm trying to attract a guy. I'll make sure I speak in a creepy ass voice right in his ear. I'm sure he'll like that."

The twins released each other and put on faces that meant they disagreed. "You may hope that he would be totally weirded out but on the contrary, that guy would think you're the sexiest woman alive!" they explained.

"How so!" Aria demanded.

"Men work differently, duuuuh," they said breezily, as if they expected her to already understand what she meant. "Guys are perverted in general, even the most sophisticated ones who act like they're gentleman."

Aria glanced at the back of Kyoya after that statement. He was still speaking to the manager and wasn't aware of the conversation.

"You're speaking in generalities," she said more than asked.

The twins shook their heads. Before they wrapped their arms around her shoulders. "Nope."

"Don't let any man fool you, Aria," said Hikaru, on her left.

"Every man is perverted," Kaoru added firmly.

"Some just hide it better than others do," they finished, winking at her.

Aria didn't know why they were trying to explain this to her but she just sighed heavily to herself, signaling her "surrender" to them.

"So, what do you say?" they whispered again into her ears. "Want to join us in the hot spring together? It could be a threesome…"

Aria made a noise of utter disgust but she knew they were just playing. "Mori-senpai!" she called, wriggling away from the twins. "Keep these _weirdos_ away from me!"

Mori turned his gaze at the twins and grunted warningly as Aria hid behind his back for protection. The twins waved their hands innocently and laughed before moving on to their next victim, Haruhi.

After they left, Mori turned to Aria and smiled slightly. He reached out and ruffled her hair.

"Thanks, senpai."

"What were they doing, Ari-chan?" asked Honey, tugging on the hem of her blue shirt. He hadn't been paying attention until Aria had shouted to Mori to rescue her.

She laughed, Mori's hand still resting on her head. "Oh…just being really disturbing and-"

Aria came up short when she heard Tamaki begin to shout at the twins for being vulgar with Haruhi.

"Oh, I see," said Honey with a smile. "Ari-chan, Ari-chan! Will you come and sit in the hot spring with me and Takashi after lunch? Pleeeeeaasse!"

Honey stared up at Aria with his big, innocent, brown eyes and her defenses vanished. He was just so adorable, she couldn't get over it.

"Usa-chan would love it if you did!" Honey added, holding up the pink rabbit.

Aria grinned. "Of course, Honey-senpai!"

"_Hey!" _the twins cried, having overheard. "You're going to go in with them and not us?"

She sighed, mocking an apologetic expression. "I'm afraid so," she said indifferently. "But they're not going to try to rape me either."

Before the twins could protest some more, Kyoya cut in and told everyone that the resort was ready for them.

The manager of the spa and resort gave the group a tour of the island facilities. He showed them the hot springs were before directing them to where the spa area was as well as the gym facility was located.

"There are signs and directories every so often. Just follow them to get where you need to go," he said. He continued to show them around, like the garden area to relax and catch some rays. They also had tanning beds but Aria wasn't keen on using them; she'd be tan enough without them.

The manager led them to the changing rooms, one for the girls and the other for the boys. Aria and Haruhi said their goodbyes and went through the hall.

A female employee greeted Aria and Haruhi at the door, showing them where the towels were located, which locker was designated to the each of them, and where the showers and toilets were. After that, the middle-aged woman explained to the girls that they were free to do whatever they wanted at the spa, free of charge before handing them their robes.

"Have you decided what you're doing first, Haruhi?" Aria asked once they were in the locker room alone. She started unbutton her red and black flannel to change into the robe and her bathing suit.

Haruhi shrugged. "I don't know. Probably a massage…I have a knot in my shoulder someone should work out."

Aria grinned. "You'll have to let me know how that goes. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet."

The nice thing about today's stop in the trip was that everyone was allowed, given permission by Tamaki, to run off and do whatever they wish. Aria was keen on the alone time, having brought her iTouch and a book. She was sure that Honey wouldn't let Mori out of his sight, though Mori didn't seem like he would complain of the fact, and the twins would invariably be attached at the hip.

Since Aria had already taken a shower on the ship, she stepped out of the locker room before Haruhi and wrapped her white robe around her with her book in hand.

Aria walked at an easy pace, in no rush to get anywhere in particular. Any employee she passed grinned brightly at her and greeted her warmly, which after the seventh time, Aria was getting a bit annoyed.

She passed by the large courtyard outside and paused. After an internal debate, she pushed open the door and walked outside. The sun immediately warmed her skin and she found a daybed to lie on.

Once she was situated and put on some sunblock, she pulled out her iPod and took off her robe.

It didn't take long for her to fall asleep after she closed her eyes. The heat from the sun always made her drowsy. She had prepared herself though, in case she did fall asleep so she had an alarm on her iPod to wake her up.

* * *

Lunch hour rolled around so all of the Host Club and Aria met back in the dining area to eat. Aria had thought that because the general vibe of the place was relaxation, Honey would not have been so hyped up on sugar or the twins would have cut back on the perverted, forbidden twin love act.

They apparently had used it on a few women working on the island all morning. They were younger, in their twenties, and twins were enjoying the attention like the always did.

"Ari-chaaaaan!" cried Honey, leaping into Aria's arms. "I missed you so much! Are you relaxed yet?"

"Mitsukuni," said Mori's familiar flat voice. "Don't yell. You have to be quieter here."

Aria chuckled quietly to herself as Honey looking thoughtful. "Sorry, Takashi," he whispered finally, making Aria want to laugh aloud.

They all went to sit down so they could eat. Everyone exchanged stories of what they had done so far for last four hours of being on the island. Tamaki had gone into the hot spring…getting him to shut up about it proved to be difficult as he rambled on about the hot spring for a good ten minutes. Haruhi had gotten a full body massage (to which Tamaki appeared to be jealous of the man who had given her the massage) and then went into the mud bath. She had just showered before coming to lunch. The twins went for a facial, got a small massage (consisting only of their feet), then went and got their hair trimmed a little, sat in the sauna, and finally took showers before coming to lunch.

"You two have major ADD," said Aria as she was eating the small club sandwiches the staff had served them.

Mori and Honey spent most of their time in the gym before they sat in the sauna too. They had met the twins in there. Kyoya said he was in a hot spring for the majority of his time, a separate one from Tamaki so there wouldn't be annoying idle chatter coming from his best friend. After that Kyoya said he sat around in the courtyard, catching up on reading.

"What did you do, Aria?" asked Tamaki.

Aria smiled slightly. "Not much," she replied. "I sat out in the courtyard. I fell asleep for about an hour and half. After that I went to the gym, seeing I haven't been at the gym yet today. Took a shower and now I'm here."

After lunch, as promised to Honey, and to the displeasure of the twins, Aria went to go sit in the hot spring with Honey and Mori.

It was quite a large pool of water and was deep enough to submerge Aria up to her chest when she stood on her feet. Around the water was vegetation and beautifully flowered trees. Just the scenery alone could relax Aria.

When she stepped in, the water was very warm, almost too hot to go into quickly. Honey, however, did a cannonball into the water. He splashed water all over Mori, who had already sat down on the steps in the pool. Mori didn't look phased and because of that Aria had to giggle.

Mori turned his straight-faced gaze to her and she stopped giggling, but still had a smile plastered on her face. "Mori-senpai," she said, "nothing ever bothers you, does it?"

He blinked before he smiled slightly at her. Mori made no move to answer but Aria understood the gesture and didn't press him.

Aria took a spot across the pool from Mori while Honey was swimming around in the pool like a little kid, singing and laughing. He had brought Usa-chan to sit at the side of the spring and Honey kept talking to the rabbit at regular intervals.

Honey finally stopped wading around and sat next to Aria.

"Ari-chan…" said Honey running his hand across the water's surface. Aria turned to look at him.

"Hmm?"

He didn't meet her gaze and continued to stare at the reflection of the trees in the water. "I think you have secret admirers," he replied finally. He looked up at her with his hazel eyes and grinned. "And I think they really, really, _really _like you."

Her stomach clenched, knowing exactly whom he was referring to. However, she played it off as if she was unaware of whom Honey was speaking of.

"Honey-senpai!" she laughed. "What are you talking about? I don't have secret admirers-?"

"Yes, you do, Ari-chan," said Honey firmly. "I can tell when they look at you. They really like you."

Aria couldn't avoid it any longer. "Who are you talking about?"

"Kyoya and Kaoru."

She was surprised to hear Mori's voice instead of Honey's. Aria sort of stared at Mori for a long moment in her shock.

"Even Takashi sees it. They always have this…sparkle in their eyes whenever you are talking to them. I've never seen Kyo-chan act like that before," explained Honey. He swam over to a small bush that was at the side of the pool.

He pulled off a red flower from the plant and swam over to Aria again.

"I think they like you because you're nice," said Honey, grinning up innocently, "and so beautiful."

Aria blushed as Honey put the flower on her ear and tucked her hair behind it. She didn't want to meet Mori or Honey's eyes so she kept her eyes up at the blue sky. It fell quiet between the three of them, listening to the breeze rustle through the trees. Honey was holding Aria's hand under the water, deep in his own thoughts.

"I wish I could say not to break either of their hearts…" he murmured softly, breaking the silence. Aria turned to look at him; he had an almost somber looking expression on his face. "But…no matter what, one of them is going to be heartbroken. Whoever you end up falling in love with…the other is going to be left out but whoever gets left out will still love you.

"But that's not your fault though, Ari-chan. All of us will always care about you, no matter what. Tama-chan loves having you around…even if you two don't talk very much. Takashi and I love you too. I don't know what I'd do if you were to disappear. You're a part of us. And Haru-chan needs you too. I can tell…she likes having you for a friend, even if she never tells you that. She doesn't relate well with other girls because other girls assume she is a boy. But you like her just the way she is…and she needs that."

Aria was taken aback. She had no idea Honey was…quite as intuitive as he had just shown her. She had always assumed he was just playful, young, and naïve. However, she was now aware that he was shrewd but kept his thoughts only to himself and Mori.

"You know what?" said Honey, grinning again. "We're like a big family."

Aria kept her blank gaze on him for a few more seconds. "Yeah…we are, aren't we?"

Honey hugged her tight. "I love you, Ari-chan," he whispered in her ear. "Always."

Tears stung her eyes but she didn't let them fall. The acceptance in his voice was overwhelming and knowing that not only Honey, but Mori too, cared about her was more than enough.

She had never had many friends in the US or in Italy…and the ones that she did have, she wasn't close to. Aria was happy to have found friends like these.

"I love you too."

* * *

Hikaru and I were getting full body massages done.

We only had a couple hours left before we had to head back to the ship for dinner so we wanted to make sure that we got our massages in for the day. The ship had a small day spa but the masseuses at Allure Island were far better here.

Hikaru had fallen asleep by the time we were done but I had luckily stayed awake enough to stumble into the showers to rinse off all the oil they had used on me. I took my time; I wasn't in any kind of rush.

The warm water woke me up somewhat but I still had a euphoric feeling surrounding my body, having been listening to mediating music, being massaged, as well as having hot rocks placed on my back to "balance my center." I don't really know if that what it was supposed to do but I just tuned out the masseuse and let my mind wander.

Finally, I turned off the water and shook my hair out. Once I wrapped a beige towel around my waist, I took a hand towel and draped it on my head. I wandered into the locker room, rubbing the towel on my head to get rid of some of the water.

I heard a locker open around the corner. Hikaru probably had been woken up by his masseuse and he was getting his things so he could take a shower.

I rounded the corner and lifted my eyes. "Well, good morning, sunshine-"

I came to a grinding halt because it wasn't Hikaru, it was Aria…and I walked in on her undressing!

She had on only her bikini bottoms on, her top being in the locker, and she was about to pull down her bottoms. Her smooth, tan back was facing me, thankfully…so I didn't see anything.

She snapped her head around at the sound of my voice, her eyes wide with astonishment. We both yelled out at the same time.

I was apologizing as I was backing out of the locker room, fairly sure I was just as red in the face as she was, while she just shouted in shock because I had walked in on her naked. Aria covered herself with the nearest towel.

"Jeezus, Kaoru!" she yelled, ducking behind a rows of lockers.

Of course…I _had_ to trip and fall on damn bench behind me. Thank god my towel around my waist didn't fall as I clambered to a stand. "I'm so sorry!" I called as I was sprinting out of there. All I wanted was to get out of there and save me from more disgrace.

I was mortified.

The sight of Aria basically naked had caused me to practically break out in a sweat from the embarrassment…and the arousal. I mean, I hadn't actually seen anything I wasn't supposed to…but she was completely topless!

My next dilemma attacked me…. I had no idea what I was going to do when I saw her next. Would she be angry with me? Or…would she just refuse to speak with me?

I don't know if I could bear that.


	13. Ice

**Author's Note: Hey all, another update for you! 3 Anyways, I don't really have much to say for this one. Sorry I've been lagging on the whole update thing. I've been working a lot these days. And people in my life are incredibly stupid sometimes...That's another story. Anyways, I hope you guys like this one. It's not all that exciting but yeah, remember to review! Please! 3 3 3 And recap, remember Kaoru had accidentally walked in on Aria changing.  
**

**I don't own anything OHSHC. only my OCs and my plot.  
**

Chapter Thirteen: Ice

Aria waited in the main lobby for everyone else so they could head back to the ship for dinner. Since her nearly traumatizing incident with Kaoru, she hasn't seen him. She wondered if he was avoiding her, which was completely understandable.

She had been walked in a few times before, once while changing in a fitting room at a store, in the bathroom at home, and once at a friend's house while she was changing into her bathing suit…so this wasn't a huge deal to her. Sure, it had been rather embarrassing since Kaoru was so close to her but it wasn't something she would have a heart attack over. Aria figured that Kaoru would be feeling extremely guilty though, if she knew him well enough.

While she waited, she scrolled through the few pictures she took of the Host Club members today around the resort. She also had pictures of Haruhi dressed up as a guy and walking around the ship from the night before. That only occupied her attention for a few minutes so she put the camera away.

Tamaki was the first to arrive. He walked over, in all his idiotic grace, and sat down right next to her on the loveseat. "Bonjour, ma petite soeur!" he said cheerfully. _(Translation: Hello, my baby sister.)_

Aria rolled her eyes but smiled. "Hi, senpai," she said in Japanese.

He looked a bit put out. "Aw, you're not going to speak to me in French?" he pouted. "You always talk in Italian with Kyoya! This is hardly fair."

"Oh my gosh, stop whining," she laughed. "I don't know French well enough yet to speak it so easily. When I'm fluent, I will talk in French to you. Jeeze…."

Tamaki was very excited about the notion. "Dork…" Aria said. He continued to smile and leaned back into the seat.

"Are you all relaxed and pampered like the beautiful princess that you are?" he asked after a minute, his blue eyes bright with expectancy.

"Of course," she replied, smiling as well but ignoring the "beautiful princess" comment. "The Ootori family runs a great resort. It was very relaxing here…other than…"

She trailed off without concluding her sentence. Tamaki raised an eyebrow curiously, seeing that Aria looked uncomfortable. "What? What about today was amiss? Maybe I can attempt to fix it."

Aria laughed. "It's nothing really," she said nonchalantly as she saw Kyoya, Honey, and Mori walking towards them. Honey was on Mori's shoulders, looking fairly sleepy, as his arms were resting at the top of Mori's head while Honey rested his chin on said arms. Kyoya had was about a foot or so ahead of them, his eyes on his stupid writing pad and flipping idly through his notes.

"In that case, you can tell me, Aria," said Tamaki.

She hesitated, aware of the reaction he was capable of. "Oh, well…when I was going to get my massage, Kaoru walked in on me undressing so-"

"He _what!" _screeched Tamaki, his eyes turning black with rage. He shot up to a stand while his face was turning so red hot that Aria half expected steam to rise from his skin despite the warm temperature. His screaming somewhat startled the other three and some passing employees.

"Wait-!" said Aria to try to soothe him. She knew this would happen…and she regretted even mentioning it. "He didn't-"

"I will peel the skin off of his very bones and wear it as winter coat!" shouted Tamaki, more to himself. Aria made a disgusted face behind him before attempting to calm him down again.

"Who's skin?" said a unison of voices.

Aria looked over. The twins had just walked in with Haruhi; this was the worst time for them to have appeared and Aria suddenly feared for Kaoru's life. It took Tamaki a good ten seconds to find his words.

Speaking of Kaoru, he refused to meet her eyes…actually he wouldn't even look at her in general.

"_You!" _was all Tamaki could manage while pointing directly at Kaoru. He struggled to find his words again. "I would _never _have thought you would have stooped so low take a peek at Aria _undressing!_ You disgraceful human being! You peeping tom! _I will kill you!"_

Tamaki rushed for Kaoru, who now bore the look of a deer in headlights and was clutching Hikaru. Aria stood up quickly to try and stop Tamaki from literally strangling Kaoru but she wasn't fast enough to tackle him.

But there was a resounding _smack! _followed closely with a sound of moaning. Aria stared blankly as Kyoya had his arm outstretched with his clipboard, where Tamaki's face had ran straight into it. Tamaki now was doubled over, clutching his nose. Kyoya had been very quick in speed that Aria had almost missed it completely.

"Kyoya!" Tamaki cried after a moment, sounding far more confused than angry. "What was that for!"

Kyoya lowered his arm and looked as serenely calm as he did about everything. "To stop you from behaving like a blood-thirsty idiot…. I'm sure it was only an accident," he said in his signature silk-reminiscent voice and glancing at Kaoru. Aria wondered if she was the only one who saw the flash of warning in his eyes. "There's no reason to attack him unnecessarily."

"Unnecessarily?" scoffed Tamaki. "He saw Aria _naked!"_

"No I didn't!" cried Kaoru. "I didn't see anything!"

Tamaki finally was standing straight, his nose and forehead very red from the blow of the clipboard. He looked ready to lunge for Kaoru again. "It doesn't matter!"

"Alright, enough!" cut in Haruhi loudly. "Honestly, it's not a big deal. Like Kyoya-senpai said, it was an accident. Kaoru didn't mean to walk in on Aria. So, Tamaki-senpai, don't kill him."

Tamaki did not look satisfied but everyone's urging, he let it go…grudgingly. Aria knew that his submissive attitude was only because Haruhi had asked him to calm down.

"Well…that whole scene negated the entire day's worth of relaxation…" said Aria sarcastically as they climbed the ferry to the ship. She had said more to herself but the others heard her.

After a few minutes, the group fell mostly back into its normal antics and behaviors and the awkwardness about the small "blowup" dissipated. Aria was glad because she had had no intention to start a fight or anything between anyone.

She caught Kaoru's eyes for a moment; he looked very upset and guilty. Aria flashed him a reassuring smile, hoping it would send him a message that she wasn't angry with him. Thankfully, he smiled back.

Aria turned her gaze away and her eyes fell on Kyoya. He was at the corner of the ferry boat, almost glaring at Kaoru from behind. Aria raised an eyebrow but didn't continue to watch him but instead watch the passing clear water beside her.

_Well, one thing is for sure…I'm hungry…_she mused.

* * *

One thing was for certain, I was _livid. _

I wasn't nearly as angry as I had been with those three meatheads at Aquaventure but this was not far behind.

Of course, my anger wasn't rightly justified. Kaoru genuinely didn't mean to walk in on Aria changing, but that hardly stopped me from being furious with him. He could, at the very least, have paid more attention to where he was going. That aside, he hasn't even apologize for his actions, as far as I know. Perhaps I will ask him politely to do so before dinner.

"Andiamo," said a voice. _(Translation: Come on or let's go.) _My eyes cleared and I looked up to find that we were back at the ship and everyone had left the ferry except Aria and I. She was standing a few feet away, looking at me expectantly.

I rose to a stand. "Mi dispiace," I said, following after her. _(Translation: Sorry.)_

The others were already down the hall, all talking amongst themselves. I couldn't help but wonder so I asked, "Ha Kaoru scusa?" _(Translation: Did Kaoru apologize?)_

Aria didn't look at me but smiled. "Yeah, he did," she replied in Italian. "He feels really guilty enough as it is. I wouldn't want to make him more uncomfortable. It was an accident. No harm done."

I didn't reply because I fear I would have misplaced my anger and lashed out at her for being so lenient with Kaoru. However, I reasoned with myself and let my fury come down to a simmer. If she could let it go, there was no reason for me to be angry with Kaoru still, at least in a permissible way.

Once I was safely back in my room so I could dress somewhat more appropriately for dinner, I found myself analyzing my reaction. I understood that my anger was more out of protective jealousy…the trouble I was having was why it was beginning to affect me this way.

Constantly, I am finding myself examining the reasons of my steadily growing attraction to Aria…as well as the consequences of my actions. I have always been a careful planner and thought of a bigger picture of all situations.

But for her, I always drew a blank. It was aggravating that I couldn't predict where my life would now end up with…or without her.

It anyone were to be able to read my mind, they would be in utter shock…. Thank God I kept all my thoughts and musing quiet. I was slowly beginning to lose my mind. Is this what falling in love entails? I feel like I'm obsessing over every decision, every action, every word I utter to her like a lunatic. I keep replaying moments where I had been with her and go through "what if" scenarios. This is driving me crazy.

_This_ is why I was never interested in any women. They take control over a man's brain and turn it into pulp without even realizing that they do. It is not _normal _to have one person on my mind so many times in a day…especially a girl.

I cleared my mind and focused on getting dressed. I cannot allow anyone to catch me like this, especially Tamaki. Then I would never have peace.

Once I was dressed, I went back downstairs and I could hear some of the others waiting in the hallway. I don't know if I had an appetite….

* * *

Aria rubbed her eyes as she stared into the screen of her laptop. She had been working very diligently on the project that Kyoya had given her. She was thinking she might show him some of the pictures she had taken and touched up tomorrow.

While stifling a yawn, she clicked on the icon for her e-mails, seeing that she had four new ones. Two were from her mother, one from her father, and the last from Dom. She went about reading the ones from her parents before replying. Her mother was still a little angry with her daughter for not having been straightforward about the trip while her father was more so wishing Aria a happy vacation. Dom's e-mail was very bubbly…as per usual with Domenico.

_Hey there!_

_Sister, sister, sister…. (That was said with a sigh and a shake of the head.) I miss thee terribly. I really wish you could just appear out of nowhere and just you know, be here with me. Oriana is boring as hell. You know her. She just sits in her room all day reading anime…. Anyways! I is loving you long time. Yes, very much so. Please! Bring back some awesome souvenirs from your trip. Like maybe an awesome t-shirt or something! Idk just do it!_

_Oh, and don't get freaky deaky with those boys, Aria. Imma have to kill em all if you do. :o And that's just no fun…I don't wanna go to jail anyway. I know they're super wealthy…and really smart…and probably really hot to you…but RESIST the human urge to take off your clothes and just have at it. Remember, sex leads to babies…you know, like mom said! Well, gotta go. Love you lots and lots and lots. Bye!_

Aria glowered at the screen, one of her eyes twitching because she was irritated. She ground her teeth together and placed her hands on the keyboard to type.

_Hi._

_Brother…brother…brother…. (That was said with heavy irritation and the urge to sock you in the gut.) I miss you too, but probably not as much as you miss me. Sorry to say that…. I'm _always _with you so this break is good for us. By the way, you can't _read _anime, you dumb shit (love you). You _watch _anime and _read _manga. Maybe that's why she doesn't like you, Dom…because you are always so damn hyper and loud and obnoxious. Get on her level and maybe you'd be closer._

_I was already bringing back souvenirs for you guys. What you get is up to me though so you may not get a t-shirt. :P Actually, you probably won't…just so I can piss you off. haha_

_And seriously, Dom? I'm not _you _so I don't have overwhelming desires to take off my clothes and hump the nearest object. I'm not doing _anything _with any of them so you don't have to worry about killing them and/or going to jail. But for real, I'm not getting, as you put it, "freaky deaky" with any of the Host Club members._

_AND I KNOW SEX LEADS TO BABIES! I'm an honor student at Ouran Academy…I think I would make the correlation that sex could lead to babies. Jeeze…_

_Anyways, love you a ton too, you freak. Calm down alright? It'll save you some trouble. _

Aria clicked send and collapsed into the couch. She didn't know why but Dom being Dom…even through e-mail…took the energy out of her. She wasn't quite sure how she was able to deal with him half the time.

After a long moment, she stood up and decided to go for her evening walk like she did every night. She grabbed her only jacket, a fairly light zip-up hoodie in black, and shut the door behind her.

Somewhere in the back of Aria's mind, she was hoping she would run into Kaoru. She still hadn't been able to talk to him since that afternoon. He was avoiding her like the plague…and it sort of was making her angry that he was.

_It's not like I'm gonna rip him apart…_she thought idly while walking down the hall.

Aria wandered around the ship for a good forty-five minutes without meeting anyone, other than an occasional employee. She had walked the deck for a while before grabbing a slice of pizza.

She checked the time. It was 1:15am…it was probably best for her to head to bed. She figured they were going to be able to sleep in since they were docking anywhere that day, but knowing Tamaki or the twins, they'd probably wake her up early just to annoy the living hell out of her.

Aria made her way back down the hall towards her room, finishing off her pizza. When she looked up, she saw Kaoru standing outside her door. He looked like he was struggling with the idea that he would be waking her up because he had raised his hand to knock three times but then dropped it in second thought.

He also had reached for the doorknob once…probably thinking he could sneak in with the white rose he had in his hand and leave it by her bedside…at least…that's what Aria was assuming.

"Kaoru-kun…?" she said when she was closer. He jumped at her voice, causing Aria to laugh. "Sorry."

Kaoru grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head with his free hand as he turned to her. "Hey…" he said awkwardly.

"Hi," Aria replied, amused. She stopped at about six feet from him, hands in her jacket pockets, and looked at him with a smirk. "What are you doing?"

"Well, I…I just-" he practically stammered. She didn't understand why he was nervous. "…I just…wanted to apologize for earlier today."

His golden eyes didn't meet hers until the end of his sentence. Aria smiled. "There's no need to apologize. I wasn't angry."

Kaoru sort of frowned. "I figured you wouldn't be…" he sighed. "But I felt bad. I should've paid more attention."

Aria rolled her eyes.

"So…I'm sorry, Aria. Please forgive me," he said, closing the gap between them. He held out the white rose to her, a soft expression flooding his face.

She took the rose from him. "Already done," she replied gently. "And thank you."

Aria reached up and embraced him around the neck. Without thinking, she kissed him lightly on the cheek in appreciation of his thoughtfulness. She felt his body heat flare instantly, causing her to nearly burst out laughing.

When she pulled back, Kaoru had already bypassed red and went to maroon. "Uh…anyways…goodnight!" he said quickly, before basically dashing into Hikaru's room.

She chuckled.

Aria was surprised with his embarrassed behavior. He normally was very flirtatious in a situation like this. Well…maybe no one had ever tried to kiss him at Ouran. Aria guessed that there were unspoken boundaries between the hosts and the girls, as well as a bit of higher standards, that they weren't allowed to touch the hosts unless they touched the girls first.

Whatever the reason, it amused Aria immensely to see Kaoru so frazzled.

She turned and went inside to go to sleep.

* * *

Aria eyed the ice rink doubtfully. "I'll be at the snack bar…" she said, abruptly turning on her heel and walking away.

Before she even got a few feet away from the group, two pairs of hands pulled on the back of her hood. "Oh, no you don't!" said the twins. "You're so ice skating."

"But I don't want to," she whined as they dragged her over to the ice skates.

"Too bad!" they sang.

Aria moaned before they shoved her towards the table with an employee smiling brightly at them.

"Don't worry, Ari-chan," said Honey cheerfully. "You can hold mine and Takashi's hand!"

She wanted to roll her eyes but she was asked what size for her skates before she could. She told the elderly man, who apparently was from France, her size. He asked her if she wanted a helmet, to which she passed on.

Once everyone was ready to skate, they stepped out onto the indoor ice rink, which was the size of a standard basketball court. It was obvious that the ice had just been swept because there were no grooves on it from any other ice skaters…not that anyone was skating on it.

Ice-skating had never really been Aria's strong point…ever. She had never been very good at it…and she was actually a little worried she would make a complete fool of herself in front of her friends.

She clumsily tried to skate forward. However, she got scared because of the lack of balance and clung to the wall nearest to her.

The twins zoomed past her. "Having fun, Aria?" they chided as they skated backwards.

"No," she spat, trying to get her bearings again.

Haruhi wasn't much better than Aria but she didn't have to clutch a wall to steady her. Tamaki had been holding her hand the whole time. Aria had stopped for a moment and watched them. It seemed like those two were…growing closely without really realizing it. Haruhi nearly fell at one point and grabbed Tamaki instinctively.

Aria hadn't really seen Tamaki's face grow as soft as it did, unbeknownst to Haruhi. He held her tight and laughed lightly before taking her hand again to skate.

Aria took out her camcorder and recorded a little…making sure Tamaki and Haruhi weren't in the shots. She wanted to take pictures while skating…but she wasn't coordinated enough.

Mori skated up and quickly came to a stop, spraying a bit of ice on Aria. He let out a near growl at her while holding out his hand. Aria eyed him for a moment before she couldn't help but grin at him.

She took his hand and he skated slowly. He was more so dragging her than anything because Aria wasn't really moving her feet.

She watched the others skate and realized it showed a little about their personalities. The twins were speed skating, racing each other around the rink. Aria was fairly sure that they've circled the ice at least six times within the last two minutes. Honey's hands were behind his back and he was skating with ease. He just seemed comfortable and off in his own world as he skated around in wavy patterns. Tamaki and Haruhi were being their awkward/lovey-dovey/whatever they hell they were selves. Meanwhile, Kyoya's hands were shoved in his pockets and he was skating around without much thought. He didn't look very interested.

"Watch my feet…" said Mori beside her. Aria blinked and turned her attention to what he was saying. She gazed down at him skating.

"Copy me."

Aria rolled her eyes. "Easier said than done, senpai," she groaned, trying to mimic his movements.

After about seven times around the rink, Aria was able to skate somewhat on her own without losing confidence…and lose her balance.

Mori let go of her hand completely and slowed down so she could skate alone. She skated around twice.

"Non ho mai visto che sei così imbarazzante fino ad ora," chuckled a familar velvet voice behind her. _(Translation: I've never seen you look so awkward until now.)_

Aria's face darkened dramatically. "Puoi andare da qualche altra parte voi, per favore?" she said just before she gasped from nearly losing her balance. _(Translation: Can you go be you somewhere else, please?)_

Kyoya chuckled and skated ahead of her before turning on the spot to skate backwards.

"Sfoggiare..." she muttered. _(Translation: Show off...)_

"I thought you were good at everything," he said, still in Italian. She scoffed as they continued to skate. Again, she nearly lost her balance, now that the ice was getting grooves from everyone's skates.

"Sorry, I'm not _you," _she growled. "Perfection doesn't come easy for me."

Aria didn't see that Kyoya frowned at her. "I am not perfect," he said gently, smiling slightly.

"Right…" she said cynically. "That is the biggest-"

Before she could finish, the twins whizzed by, scaring the crap out of her. Aria couldn't recover herself in time and she fell backwards on her back.

Aria couldn't help but burst out laughing immediately afterwards, despite the breath having left her lungs so forcefully. She was laughing so hysterically at her clumsiness that she started to tear up.

Kyoya hovered over her before anyone else did. "Are you okay?" he asked, sounding concerned.

"I'm _laughing," _she replied, sitting herself up. "Of course I'm okay."

She wiped her tears from her cheeks.

"Ari-chan!" cried Honey, stopping next to her. "Are you hurt?"

Aria grinned. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just lost my balance. Ice skating isn't my sport."

"Well, obviously," said Haruhi a dry tone in her voice. Aria laughed again.

Kyoya helped her stand. "Dude! I'm fine, you guys don't have to hover…" she said, noticing everyone had rushed to her side. "Go skate."

They all dispersed slowly, except for Kyoya who was watching her intently. "I didn't hit my head, in case you're wondering," Aria snapped in Italian. She pulled the cameras out of her jacket pockets. "But you should take these…just in case I crush them when I fall again."

Kyoya rolled his eyes but took both cameras. "Are you expecting me to take pictures?" he replied.

"Yes, please," she said smiling. He returned the gesture and snapped a candid of her. "Hey!"

He chuckled. "By the way…did you have anything you can show for on the projects?"

Aria started to skate forward. "Actually, I do. I wanted to get your opinion on some of it, if that's okay," she said, glancing up at him, but mostly keeping her eyes on her feet.

"All right," he said, starting to skate faster. "You can show me tonight after dinner. The aquarium should be fine."

Her heart leapt. "Wait…after everyone's asleep?" she asked, inadvertently dropping her voice. She didn't mean to but…she felt like it was necessary.

"Of course," Kyoya replied, looking confused as to why she thought otherwise. "Less distractions if we're alone."

And with that, he skated away to take pictures of everyone.


	14. Playing Games

**Author's note: Hello all! Sorry, another short little update. :/ But I think you may like where things are going, yes? I'm excited to get into things now. I want to down play drama though. I know I do lots of fluff and stuff but I don't want dramatic fan fics. Those make me tired of writing. And tomorrow (story wise), everyone is going to Puerto Rico! YAYAYAY! That'll be cool. Like I said before, I think Aria's family may make an appearance... Maybe? I don't know yet. Anyways, please enjoy. hopefully you will. Love you all, and remember! Review, yes? Itd make this little author so very excited! **

**I don't own anything OHSHC. Just my OCs and plotline.  
**

Chapter Fourteen: Playing Games

"_Less distractions if we're alone…"_

That sentence hummed vaguely through her brain throughout the rest of the day. Whenever she had just a moment when no one was harassing her or talking to her, her mind would wander to later that night. It caused her stomach to fill with butterflies so Aria was always grateful for someone to pull her away from her thoughts.

Haruhi and Aria were getting ready for yet another formal night. By now, Haruhi was use to the routine and did far less complaining about hair and make-up.

"You're zoning out," noted Haruhi as Aria was applying primer on Haruhi's eyelids for her eyeshadow. Aria's emerald eyes cleared and she looked at Haruhi.

"No, I'm not," she lied. "I'm concentrating. There's a difference."

Haruhi scoffed. "Right," she said cynically but she changed the subject anyways. "Anyways, which dress are you wearing?"

Aria smiled. "My short dress."

"Oh, the black and white one?" Aria told her yes and they fell silent.

About a half hour later, they were ready to go to the dining hall. No one was supposed to escort them today…but Haruhi had a feeling someone would probably show up for them both. Aria was not so sure.

Tonight, Haruhi was wearing her light yellow cocktail dress. It stopped just above her knees and had a one-shoulder neckline. At the strap was a satin bow embellishment as well as a brooch under it. She paired it with a pair of white heels that had been her tallest ones yet. Aria had styled Haruhi's hair to be a little more voluminous and gave her natural make up, using brown eyeshadows, to play up the dress more.

Aria's dress was strapless and stopped at about mid thigh. Down the middle was a zig zag like pattern to separate the black from the white. It was simple and edgy. Aria had styled her hair in a very sleek, polished ponytail. Where the band was, she tied hair around it and added a sparkling pin. Her make up was quite dramatic and she wore little black booties for shoes.

There was a loud couple of knocks at the door downstairs. The girls glanced at each other before they went to get the door.

Aria opened it up and found Tamaki standing there, beaming at them, in a normal tux of black on white with a black tie. He obviously was very happy that he was seeing the girls before anyone else, because he looked like he just may explode from excitement.

His blue-purple eyes grew big and watery as he grinned. "Aww, you two just look so pretty!" he squealed, putting his hands up to his mouth.

"Please stop doing that, senpai," said Aria, with an eyebrow raised. "You remind me of a girl sometimes, I swear."

Tamaki immediately dropped his hands but his eyes were clearly stuck on Haruhi…who was refusing to meet his gaze. Aria took this opportunity to instigate.

"Isn't Haruhi just the epitome of beauty, senpai?" she said, smirking to herself. Haruhi shot a death glare at Aria but she could tell Haruhi was somewhat blushing.

"Shut up," she mumbled, uncomfortable under their gaze.

Tamaki's eyes were soft. "You _do_ look beautiful, Haruhi," he said, his tone gentle so she wouldn't think that he was teasing her. "Although…the word hardly does you justice."

Aria rolled her eyes and wanted to gag but she remained still and continued to smile to herself.

Haruhi murmured out a small statement of appreciation before it went silent. Tamaki hadn't torn his eyes away from Haruhi…and it was sort of making Aria uncomfortable with how they were looking at one other.

"Well if you're gonna stare at each other like that," sighed Aria, walking past Tamaki to get into the hallway to relieve the heavy awkwardness, "you may as well kiss her."

Both Tamaki and Haruhi exploded at this. "What!" they shouted before they both started talking over each other. Aria laughed, because both of them were red in the face from embarrassment.

"I would never do that to my little princess! I'm her daddy!" said Tamaki, waving his hands in front of him vehemently as a sign of his anxiety. Aria had to scoff at the last statement.

Meanwhile, Haruhi was growing rather dark red. "Why would you even say something like that, Aria?" she cried, looking horrified.

Aria smiled to herself again. _They're so oblivious to their own feelings, it's ridiculous, _she thought, amused.

"Oh…it was just a thought," she replied with a wink. "I wasn't trying to give you both heart attacks, jeeze…"

Aria let out a sigh, as if she was surrendering, before she heard a small click behind her and she turned to around. Honey had just come out of his room, shutting the door behind him, and was adjusting his tie. "Honey-senpai?" said Aria, causing the other two to stop talking.

"Hi!" he said brightly, walking towards them. "I was running behind…but it worked out, didn't it?"

Aria was confused. "What worked out, senpai?"

"Well, since Tama-chan came to escort Haru-chan," explained Honey, "I can escort _you, _Ari-chan!"

She couldn't help but laugh at his enthusiasm. Tamaki was trying to explain that he hadn't come specifically for Haruhi but Aria and Honey ignored him.

"Let's go," she said, cutting him off. "We're going to be late."

Honey was holding Aria's hand as they walked down the hall, even though she towered over him. "Where's Usa-chan?" she asked absently.

He didn't reply immediately. "I left him in my room. He was tired," said Honey with a grin while tightening his grip for a second on her hand.

"They're so cute together," he whispered, glancing behind him to make sure that Haruhi and Tamaki were far enough behind so they wouldn't hear him. Aria giggled and glanced down at Honey affectionately.

"I know. They're impossibly adorable," she replied, her voice kept low. "I wish they'd quite playing games and tell each other how they feel."

Honey laughed quietly. "Who knows, Ari-chan? They might just do that before the trip ends!" he hissed.

"I hope so, Honey-senpai." She smiled. "I'd be happy."

* * *

Aria glanced at the clock. It was almost eleven; she had fifteen minutes until she had to meet Kyoya at the aquarium. At dinner, after complimenting her on how nice she looked, he told her he planned on meeting her around eleven.

She wondered why so late…. Everyone decided to crash early for an early start the next day, which tomorrow they were going to be docking in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

She tossed her XBOX controller on the couch and turned off her game of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. Aria went quickly up the stairs and turned on her bathroom light. Aria had showered after they had come back to their rooms for the night so all she did with her hair was tie it back in a low ponytail and slightly to the right so it hung over her shoulder.

Aria dug through her make up bag and applied some light make up.

She paused half way through lining her eyes with some eyeliner. _What am I doing? I'm just showing Kyoya pictures…_she thought, feeling sort of retarded.

Fifteen minutes later, she walked down the steps into the aquarium with her laptop bag slung around her shoulder. She didn't see Kyoya right off the bat…and for whatever reason, her stomach was filling with butterflies by the second.

Aria walked around for another minute and found Kyoya looking at some deep sea fish, with his hands in his pockets. He hadn't heard her behind him so she continued to watch him for a minute, for whatever reason.

Kyoya was wearing some jeans, a long sleeved white button down (the sleeves were rolled up to just below his elbows), and some shoes. Aria wondered vaguely why he put on a nice button down and some jeans. Looking at him made her glance at her own attire subconsciously.

All she was wearing was some shorts, a red camisole that was paired with a black, off the shoulder shirt of her favorite superhero, Deadpool, and some simple, black sandals. She suddenly felt a little underdressed…seeing her shirt had a superhero with a sarcastic attitude on it. Then she was confused as to why they needed to be dressed up in the first place.

_I'm over-analyzing this too much…_she thought almost desperately as she continued to watch him.

He wandered a little further down the line of wall tanks before he audibly sighed through his nose and then checked his watch at the time. After another moment, he went back to staring at the fish.

She smiled to herself. "Sono i pesci _che_ interessante?" she said teasingly. _(Are the fish _that_ interesting?)_

Aria couldn't be sure if he had jumped a little at the sound of her voice but he turned to her, looking as though he wasn't at all taken aback by her sudden appearance.

"Difficilmente," he replied, smirking at her. _(Translation: Hardly.)_

She loved that smirk…so much so that she lost herself by staring at him.

"Tutto bene?" he asked. _(Translation: You okay?)_

Aria's face cleared a little and she felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment. "Mi dispiace," she said quickly. _(Translation: Sorry.)_

Kyoya chuckled. "Let's take a look at your work then, shall we?" he said in Italian after a moment of somewhat awkward silence.

"Lead the way," she said, trying to reign in her stupidity and bring out her nonchalant attitude.

It wasn't working well.

"You look cute, by the way," he said offhandedly, not favoring her with a glance. Aria attempted to control her blushing.

"Thanks," she said, forcing herself to sound cynical so it wouldn't give away the fact that she felt a little pleased. "Like you even know who Deadpool is."

He paused mid-stride and turned to her with that smirk she liked. "Is that a challenge to the knowledge of the Marvel superhero?" he asked, almost darkly. Aria narrowed her eyes.

She was thoughtful for a moment; she figured he _did _know something…even just a little. "It would be if we didn't have other matters to discuss," Aria said finally, "…and it's a wasteful topic to discuss anyway."

Kyoya looked a little put out because she didn't test him but he just smiled and then continued to walk in front of her, the same air of indifference enveloping him like it had when she first had been introduced to him.

Aria could see he was definitely playing up his "cool type" side right now by being more aloof with her than he had been for the last few days.

They went to sit down at the table they were at the other night and she set down her bag. Kyoya pulled out her chair for her automatically, which caught her off guard. When she glanced up at him, he didn't look like he cared whether or not she wanted him to pull out her chair; again, he seemed a little more proud tonight. Aria sat down awkwardly, feeling slightly uncomfortable as he pushed her chair in for her before moving to the seat on her left. He looked like he was debating on moving the chair closer to her but he didn't, all with a rather distant looking smile on his face.

_Two can play this game…_she thought. _If he is going to be Ice King, I'll be Ice Queen._

"What are you smirking for?" he asked wryly, as if he wasn't going to care what her answer would be. Aria shook her head.

"Nothing," she replied innocently. He didn't look convinced.

She pulled out her Mac and a wireless mouse to plug in. It took her a few minutes to turn on and set up her computer. Aria opened up Adobe Flash and Photoshop so she could show Kyoya her work on the pictures and some of the footage she had to work with.

Aria hoped it would be to his taste, despite the little game they were playing…whether it was unsaid or not. For whatever reason, she really wanted to impress him…and if he didn't like it…she felt like it would be a huge blow to her ego.

"Mmkay," she said, sounding rather uninterested as she clicked on a few things. "Would you like a slideshow version of this? Or just-"

"A slideshow is perfect," he cut in smoothly. Aria felt her irritation spike for a moment but she remained outwardly unfazed.

She glanced at him, wondering if he was purposely goading her before she clicked on the mouse a few more times. "Alright, but just warning you," she replied, glancing at him, "it's not that long. I only have about thirty pictures edited and one film clip done."

Kyoya waved his hand dismissively and stood up again. Aria lifted an eyebrow, curious to what he was doing. He went behind her chair and leaned forward over her to press the enter key to play the slideshow.

She felt herself freeze at the proximity of how close Kyoya was. He was hovering right over her…she could even hear his soft breathing above her right ear as he watched as the pictures flashed on the screen at five second intervals. His right arm was bent on the back of chair while his left was extended on the chair's arm. The top of Aria's head was even brushing up against his chest.

_Stop freaking out! _

Aria kept reprimanding herself mentally because her heart was involuntarily pounding against the wall of her chest.

"Is there any point in standing over me like this?" she forced out right after the slideshow finished.. She sounded irritated and amused at the same time…which was what she was going for.

Kyoya chuckled above her. "I find amusement in seeing you internally panic."

Aria basically glared at the screen but decided to put on a childish face. "How unkind," she replied, faking an upset tone as he stood up and went back to his chair. "You find enjoyment in toying with girls' emotions? Oh, the cruelty…"

Kyoya smirked at her while he leaned back in his chair. "That was terrible," he said, amused. "You should probably not pursue any acting career, Aria."

She stiffened slightly; hearing the use of her name, something he rarely ever said, was quite strange to her.

"Anyways," he continued airily while leaning back in his chair and looking absently around at the fish, "what you've shown me was adequate. It'll have to do."

Aria felt herself burn up…but not with embarrassment. "Adequate?" she snapped, angry that he didn't appreciate the time and effort she spent working on these pictures…as well as actually taking them. She didn't think he truly understood the inconvenience of having Haruhi dress in men's clothing half the time when she wanted to wear her own.

Kyoya's gray eyes met hers. Neither of them said anything for a minute before he smiled almost arrogantly. "Did I hit a nerve?" he asked with a chuckle, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I can assure you, it wasn't intentional."

She clenched her teeth, unsure why she was angry. "You're insufferable," Aria spat, shutting her laptop before actually turning it off. She stood up abruptly and gathered her things. She shoved her mouse into her bag almost viciously before zipping it up.

The truth was…she was more so hurt. Hearing the word "adequate" about her work…and then for him to act so apathetic, cut her deep. She didn't know exactly why it was so painful…but it was just the same.

Maybe it was just because it was Kyoya; he had a way of saying things, no matter how short the sentence was, that could hit every heartstring a person had…and make them feel insignificant, even if he didn't mean it to be so. He just had some natural talent for making others feel down on themselves.

"I will work on the album so as to get out of the range of 'adequate' and into something more of your tastes," she said scathingly, bowing at him. Kyoya raised an eyebrow, but still had a trace of a smirk on his face despite being confused.

She then bade him a quick good-night and turned to leave.

Before Aria was three steps away from the table, Kyoya caught her arm and cornered her against the tank behind her. Both his arms were outstretched, his hands planted firmly on the glass slightly above her head.

Aria stopped breathing all together since his face was only about a foot away from hers. "I see my task has been accomplished," he said quietly in his velvet voice. She was too distracted with how his lips moved when he spoke to have anything of real importance to say.

The corner of his mouth twitched into another infamous smirk. "It seems I was able to get you to crack, so to speak."

She was confused. "I…don't understand…" she admitted breathily. Aria was too perplexed as to why Kyoya was standing so close to her. She felt a mixture of emotions…one being that of uneasiness and another of happiness.

He chuckled, a dark undertone prevalent. "I am not fond of your mask…you know, the one where you play 'hard-to-get' and act distant," he replied. "Nor am I very fond of someone trying to play mind games with me."

Aria blinked, a little understanding coming to her.

Kyoya knew this game…he played it all the time with girls in Ouran and here she was trying to play it on him.

He saw right through it, of course. He knew that she was trying to play "hard-to-get" but Aria didn't think he knew why.

She didn't know what to say. Kyoya was staring into her eyes, searching for something. After a moment, he started to lean in closer; she could feel his breath on her skin.

Aria's heart leapt to her throat.

"I-I…I have to go!" she said quickly, ducking out from under him, bright red even through her tan skin. "Good-night, Kyoya!"

She walked away from him as fast as she could without running, with Kyoya watching from behind. He was smiling wryly to himself, not feeling at all rejected or put out.

_Turn around…_he thought.

After a moment, she turned to see if he was watching. He was, of course, and he was standing at the table with his hands in his pockets, looking unconcerned with her behavior. He noticed she had a smile tugging at the corner of her lips as she turned away again as she walked. She turned the corner and was gone.

_Well, _he thought, _tomorrow is another day. Probably best not to rush her._

Kyoya chuckled to himself, pushed up his glasses again, and then strolled to the elevators.


	15. Waiting

**Author's Note: HI! *big grin and a wave* Look it! Update for the lovely peoples who like this little story. First off, I'd like to thank all of you for your reviews, no matter how short or small. :D Secondly, please enjoy this chapter. It's cute and somewhat of a filler chapter. If you guys have any criticism, please tell me. I love criticism as much as a nice review. But please, constructive criticism, not self-esteem injuring type of criticism. Haha Anyways, for realz, Enjoy the read. Any suggestions are welcome as well. :) I'll take them all into consideration. Remember to review! Perty pleaaaase! I love you all! xoxo**

**I don't own anything OHSHC, just my OCs and my plotline (which is awesome, right? haha)  
**

Chapter Fifteen: Waiting

Aria sat up in her bed the next morning, having slept rather restlessly. The events of last night…specifically Kyoya very nearly kissing her…crashed over her. She couldn't help but moan a little and fell back on her pillow.

The scene flashed in her mind's eye. She had been scared…and she was sure he knew that. The fact that he had attempted to kiss her sent her into a state of panic.

Aria had never been emotionally involved with anyone on that level; she always felt that she just didn't have the time for that stuff. She had seen how love could tear people apart…thankfully, it hadn't happen to her parents.

But…she remembered when Dom had had his heart torn out by a girl he was very much in love with only a year ago. He only recently was able to be fully over it, to which Aria was happy for because he had been so melancholy. That was never Dom; he was always very happy and free-spirited and to see him always upset was…discouraging.

Because of that and having to be Dom's support group in his time of need, Aria was afraid to get that deeply involved…with anyone of the opposite sex. It scared her. She just didn't want to get hurt like Dom had.

He had sworn he was going to marry her. Aria remember how bright his eyes would get when he would talk of his ex-girlfriend. He always claimed that she was "the one"…only to find out that she was only using him as stepping stone to get to one of his friends. Needless to say…Dom is no longer on speaking terms to her…or his ex-friend.

_This was _not_ supposed to happen…_she thought almost despairingly. _I have to concentrate on school when we get back from this trip! Not a boyfriend or whatever!_

There were a multitude of things of why Kyoya's interest in her was problematic. One and the main reason: she didn't want to get distracted with love when she was actually back in school. She had a dream to pursue. Two: The idea of dating someone so high up in status, meaning his wealth, his social standards, his lineage, his good looks, whatever…would prove to be too difficult to manage. Because of who Kyoya was, an Ootori no less, she was sure that his parents wouldn't approve of her and her lower fiscal status, despite that it wasn't even something to complain about. She was nothing of high class. She wouldn't be able to keep up the act. Three: …she would break Kaoru's heart…and if that were to happen, then she might lose him as a friend. Kaoru, despite not always talking with him, meant the world to her.

She let out a sigh before getting out of bed to turn the shower on to rinse off, since she took a shower the night before. After her morning routine of brushing her teeth, cleansing her face, getting dressed, and putting on a light make-up, she went downstairs with her bag to meet the others for breakfast.

Once she hit the bottom of the stairs and then turned around towards the door, she stopped dead in her tracks.

On the counter in the small kitchen was a beautiful flower arrangement next to the white rose that Kaoru had given her, which was in a cup of water. Aria couldn't help but blush as she stood there, rooted to the spot.

In the deep red vase were a dozen red tulips and a dozen blue irises, arranged perfectly to contrast each other vibrantly. Resting against the vase was an envelope addressed to her; she was a little afraid to see who this was from…even though she had a good idea.

She forced herself to move so she could open the envelope. Immediately, she recognized the elegant script without having to read it, despite it being written in Italian.

_Good morning, beautiful,_

_I hope that you slept well last night, despite my insolence. I'd just like to take a small moment and ask that you forgive me for my rather forward actions last night, as well as my behaving so rudely. I had no intentions of hurting your feelings, nor did I want to scare you away. I had been overcome by my fondness of you, something you know I wouldn't admit unless it were true. However, I feel that I must, at least, mention to you that I care about you in the manner of a lover would._

_This isn't a love letter, I can assure you. I merely seek your forgiveness for my behavior and to promise you that if my advances and affections are unwanted, then I shall proceed to __respectfully __give you the space you desire. I do not want to lose your friendship however, despite how strange we behave around each other. I do enjoy a good playful banter with you._

_Moreover, the work you presented last night was far better than adequate, so I apologize for so carelessly injuring your pride. Like I had stated, I was merely trying to incite some sort of spark in you. I honestly look forward to the final drafted product that we can sell to those among Ouran Academy. _

_ I look forward to seeing you,_

_ Kyoya_

Aria looked at the flowers in pure astonishment. His admittance to his fondness of her sent her reeling in confusion. Obviously, she had already known, seeing that he had attempted to kiss her but…for him to actually write it down and send it to her….

She smiled slightly. _He must have had the hardest time writing this, _she thought, also amused with the fact that he had written the letter so formally.

After a moment, she glanced back down again at the letter. She couldn't hold in her short laugh at what was transpiring. It wasn't even funny but she wasn't able to do anything but giggle to herself.

There was a knock on her door and Aria leapt up a little in shock. She quickly shoved the paper Kyoya had written into her laptop bag, which she had left on the counter last night, before shouting, "Come in!"

Tamaki peeked his head through the door. "Hey, you coming to breakfast or wha-?"

He stopped when he saw the flower arrangement on her right. Tamaki's eyes grew wide with amazement before he burst through the door altogether.

"These are beautiful!" he exclaimed, staring at them. "Who are they from?"

Aria swallowed nervously.

"Uh," she said lamely. "No idea. There was no name."

She didn't like lying but she knew Tamaki would probably explode if she told him who it was; he was already practically giddy with excitement not even knowing.

"Aww!" he cried, sweeping her into a crushing hug. "You have a secret admirer, Aria! Maybe from someone who works on the ship?"

Aria couldn't speak, seeing her face was in Tamaki's chest, so she only let out a slew of noises.

Tamaki released her. "What?"

"Maybe…but I think someone is just being…nice," she repeated, trying to control her face from flaring up.

He didn't seem to listen, as per usual with Tamaki, and he gripped her hand. "Come on!" he shouted, pointing to the ceiling and looking triumphant. "We must tell the others of this good fortune!"

Before Aria could vehemently protest, he yanked her out of her room and dragged her hurriedly all the way to the elevators. At the last second, he decided to take the stairs up one floor instead.

This was going to be a very long day…

* * *

I was sitting with the Host Club, minus Tamaki and wherever Aria was, eating my breakfast. Last night's little…event…was poorly thought out.

Never had I found myself so forward in the manner as I had been. I negated all boundaries of moral code and standards and had been overcome by the desire to kiss Aria. She obviously was not ready for such advancements on my part, seeing that she ran away so quickly.

I do not know how she feels for me…but in my letter I left her about twenty minutes ago, I was very clear on how I felt for her. I had decided that I just wasn't willing to go about my life hiding it from her.

My ego took a bit of a blow but I wasn't all that hurt by her rebuff. She needed time and I was surprisingly willing to wait for her as long as she need me to. I don't feel like she was repulsed by the idea...but I don't think she was ready to take it as far as I had so quickly.

I tore my thoughts away and started to listen to the twins pick on Haruhi about fancy tuna again, to which Haruhi promptly ignored them. I wondered vaguely when that joke would wear itself thin.

Upstairs where the entrance to the dining room was, we all heard a loud bang, as if the doors were cast violently open. Immediately, we all looked up towards the landing and saw Tamaki and Aria.

"Everyone!" Tamaki shouted as he rushed down the stairs, dragging Aria with him by the hand; she stumbled a little halfway down. "Wonderful news!"

Aria refused to look at me and I knew that she had seen the flowers and my letter to her. Well, there was really no way she could have missed them; I had placed them right next to the door. She was slightly red in the cheeks, which told me that she had been blushing heavily not too long ago. The thought of her reading my letter and her getting thoroughly embarrassed made me smile to myself.

"You want a sex change to become a woman?" said the twins with a dark smile. I could tell that despite what she was feeling about the situation between her and I, Aria had to laugh.

Tamaki shot them a glare. "No," he said, pushing Aria in front of him; she still would not meet my gaze. "Aria received flowers from her secret admirer this morning!"

Honey gasped but grinned brightly down the table. "Did it say who, Ari-chan?" he exclaimed, sitting forward in his seat. The rest of the table also looked very curious at her, except me. Of course, I was looking at her but we both knew who everyone was speaking of, therefore I merely smiled in amusement about her predicament.

Aria glanced at me finally, and I felt my heart skip. I couldn't help but let my smile turn into a smirk, unbeknownst to anyone else. She grew very embarrassed under my gaze and she looked like lost her ability to speak.

Tamaki, however, took this opportunity to tell them himself. "Nope!" he said, looking pleased. "So we'll just call this mystery person…her secret admirer."

"Secret admirer?" said Haruhi across from me, seemingly unconvinced. "The flowers didn't even have a note who they came from?"

I already knew…the more Aria spoke, the more she was going to get trapped into a corner…and I think she could see that too, which is why she hadn't said anything yet. Everyone stared at her, other than me. I felt rather pleased with myself to watch her squirm with uneasiness.

She wasn't going to tell anyone that _I _was the one who sent her flowers and I didn't mind. I wasn't precisely prepared for all the questions anyways. Besides, she and I were still figuring out where we stand with each other.

"Well, yeah," she said slowly, scratching the back of her head a bit nervously. "There was a note-"

Tamaki gasped behind her. "What!" he half shouted. Aria looked desperately at me, using her emerald eyes to beg me for some sort of assistance.

She was so beautiful…this was getting out of control.

"Why didn't you mention that there was a love letter attached to it?" continued Tamaki when Aria didn't say anything while looking unbearably put out. "Maybe we would have been able to figure out who sent you those flowers if we could have seen-"

"All right," I cut in finally. "I'm sure you've harassed her enough. Let her eat some breakfast."

"Bu-bu-but-" whimpered Tamaki, putting on a sad puppy dog face. I ignored the look.

"No," I said firmly, looking at Aria for a moment; she quickly averted her eyes from mine and started to turn a little red again. "Besides, I have a minor announcement to make about today's trip to the mainland."

At this, the table was curious and turned their attention to me. Aria took this moment to sit down, giving me a thankful look, before digging in to eat.

"I was informed that we are not docked in San Juan but on a smaller island off the northeastern coast of Puerto Rico," I explained indifferently. "The island is called Culebra, which has the world famous Flamenco Beach. We're going to be snorkeling there."

"Snorkeling!" cried the twins. "Awesome!"

They promptly high-fived each other.

I explained in detail the procedures for the day and that we had to be back on the ship by 6:30 tonight. I also told them that we would be at sea for he next two days before we would dock at Bridgetown, Barbados.

Once I was finished, we continued eating breakfast. The twins started to harass Aria about who sent her flowers. It didn't take a rocket scientist to see that Kaoru was far more interested in the sender than Hikaru was; he was incessantly pressing her about it. Aria was adamant, however. It was clear that she had no intention of revealing that I sent her the flowers.

"Kaoru-kun," she said firmly, giving him a stern look. "I told you I don't know who sent them. Can we just drop the subject?"

I saw Kaoru look a bit taken aback at the tone she spoke to him in. "Right…" he said after a moment. "Sorry."

Once breakfast was finished, we gathered our things and made our way to the first deck so we could get off the cruise ship and onto the ferry.

"Kyoya…" said a familiar and instantly irritating voice while everyone was climbing the stairs to leave the dining room.

I turned and found Tamaki giving me a rather victorious look. I raised my eyebrow in confusion as to why the hell he was looking at me like that while I picked up my backpack that I brought for the day.

"What, Tamaki?" I said coolly, adjusting my glasses.

"I know you sent Aria those flowers," he said, hands on his hips and grinning. "Only _you_ would send a bouquet like that."

I smirked. "You sound so sure."

He didn't reply immediately but continued to smile that idiotic smile. Not that I would admit it, but his gaze was beginning to make me slightly uncomfortable…but I think that was only because he was merely staring unblinkingly like a psychopath.

"I've never seen you like this, Kyoya!" he laughed finally.

"Like what!" I asked, growing irritated.

Tamaki put a hand on my shoulder. "Twitterpated."

I gave him the "you are an idiot" look. "You did _not_ just say 'twitterpated?'"

"I did!" he exclaimed. "It's from the movie _Bambi!"_

The desire to exhale heavily was too great, so I sighed through my nose. Tamaki, despite his constant idiocy, was probably the only one who could see tell when I was behaving differently. That aside, no matter how much I was ever an ass to him, he always was still standing beside me.

He was my best friend…not that anyone would catch me openly saying it.

"Moron…"

* * *

"Are we finished yet?" groaned Haruhi.

Her and Aria were walking along the beautiful white sand beach, Aria taking pictures of Haruhi in boy clothes. She had requested that Haruhi do this for her, because she lacked pictures of boy Haruhi out and about. Aria had good photoshop skills, so she was able to put Haruhi's head on male bodies on certain pictures…but Aria preferred it if the pictures were authentic.

"I'm sorry!" said Aria desperately. "But Kyoya-senpai said that I had to take make sure you were shown as a boy."

Haruhi sighed. "Heartless tax collector…" she mumbled.

Aria rolled her eyes. "Can you _try_ to not look so pissed off in these? That would be much appreciated."

"Sorry."

After a few more pictures from all sorts of angles, Aria was done and they turned around to head back to where the group had camped out on the sand. They didn't say much for a moment but what Haruhi had said about Kyoya was weighing her mind.

"He's not heartless…" she said quietly, barely above the noise of the waves. They were about three quarters of the way back; they could see the others sitting out on their towels, a bunch of women of all ages were either walking by them purposefully and/or staring avidly at them all being shirtless and applying sunblock onto each other. Some had even stopped to say something to one of the boys.

Haruhi looked over at her, her eyes a little wider than normal. She didn't say anything for a moment. "Aria, do you _like _Kyoya-senpai?" she asked finally. Aria's heart exploded in her chest.

"What!" she cried, stopping to stare aghast at Haruhi. "Wh-why would you say that? I mean…that's ridiculous! What gave you _that_ impression?"

Haruhi narrowed her eyes. "I'm not an idiot," she said, "and that reaction alone was enough to give you away."

Aria dropped her head as if in shame. "Yes…" she moaned. Haruhi couldn't help but laugh loudly. "Please don't say anything to anyone yet. I don't know what's really happening between us…"

"I won't…. Question though…" said Haruhi, eyeing Aria curiously.

Aria lifted up her gaze to her friend and waited for what she had to say.

"Why Kyoya-senpai…of _all_ people?"

Haruhi and Aria sort of stared at each other for a moment.

"I could say the _same _thing about Tamaki-senpai!" Aria said abruptly.

At this, Haruhi leapt back in shock and began to blush. "What!" she exclaimed. "What are you trying to say? That I _like _Tamaki-senpai? That's crazy, Aria. How could you suggest that?"

Aria raised an eyebrow but was smirking. "You're just as bad as hiding how you feel as I am, Haruhi."

Haruhi shot her a glare. "I don't want to talk about this."

"Oh really…?" said Aria, circling Haruhi like a shark. "Fine…I won't say anything about how you feel for Tamaki-senpai if _you _don't say anything to anyone about Kyoya-senpai and I."

"Deal."

Both girls smiled at each other and turned to go back.

"You're really obvious though," said Aria quietly, suppressing a giggle.

Haruhi punched Aria in the arm. "Shut up…"

Once they were back to the group, Aria plopped down on her towel that was between Mori and Haruhi. After a second of looking around, she realized that anyone within the general vicinity, be it man or woman, were all staring.

Aria rolled her eyes, pulled off her shirt and boardshorts, and went to lay on her stomach while sliding on her aviator sunglasses. She rested her chin on the top of her forearms and lifted up her legs behind her. She watched the people on the beach all gazing at the group with big eyes and some even were slack jawed.

She sighed. "Doesn't this ever get old?" she said, feeling the sun's rays beating on her back almost viciously.

"What about what getting old?" said Tamaki, spraying an even amount of sunblock on Kyoya's back.

"This!" said Aria, gesturing to everyone who was watching. "I mean, everywhere you guys go, people are always looking at you. And then you have girls like _that," _she paused to carelessly point at some women, looking about their early twenties or late teens, walking past their group about seven times now within a few minutes, "who are frolicking around in next to nothing, trying to show off?"

"Are you worried that those girls are going to capture our attention, Aria?" said the twins from above her. Aria snorted and rolled onto her back to look up at them.

"_Please_," she scoffed. "As if I would be jealous of _them. _I'm not trying to impress anyone."

"Aria…" Mori said before the twins could reply. Aria turned her head to her left and Mori tossed her the can of sunblock. Aria's hand shot up into the air and she caught it.

She stood up and began to spray herself with the sunblock while everyone was already rushing to the water with their snorkeling gear. Aria had to laugh when she saw Tamaki completely fall face first into the water because he had put on his flippers before getting into the water.

"Moron…" Aria heard Kyoya's voice behind her.

She turned and found him looking at the group with a smirk. "Please tell me you're not going to just sit here and read a book…" she said darkly, spraying her stomach. He chuckled.

"I thought about it," he admitted, squatting down to dig through a bag. "I mean, someone has to watch the stuff…."

He had a point.

"….But I just paid that man over there to watch it for us," Kyoya added after a moment. Aria looked over to the man he was speaking to…who was clearly a somewhat elderly man enjoying the ride of vacation that his children had brought him on so he was just sitting nearby under an umbrella.

Aria didn't bother to reply with her rather sarcastic remark and just continued to struggle with trying to spray her back. Kyoya noticed her effort and smiled to himself.

"Hai bisogno di aiuto?" he asked smoothly. _(Translation: Do you need help?)_

She stopped flailing like an idiot and smiled in spite of herself. "Sì, grazie," she replied. _(Traslation: Yeah, thanks.)_

With that, she tossed the can at him. Kyoya easily caught it and stood up to go over to her. He shook the can a little and Aria spread out her arms and legs for him.

"_Please _don't miss a spot," she said in a half begging manner and in Italian. "I mean, I know I'm like, way cool and all…but I'd rather not sport an awesome tan line of a giant Z on my back, if you know what I mean."

She heard him laugh, obviously amused. "You would start a trend," he teased as he sprayed the back of her legs for good measure. "There done."

"Thanks," she said turning around to smile at him. "Oh, and Kyoya?"

He handed her the sunblock. "Hmm?"

Her smile turned into a grin. "Thank you…for the flowers. They're beautiful."

Kyoya turned away but she saw that he was smirking almost triumphantly to himself. He picked up her cameras and handed her the video one. "And the letter?"

Aria swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. "I-uh…I read it. And I-"

"We can talk about this later," he interrupted, as he pulled off his glasses. "At your leisure. I can wait…."

Aria blinked, surprised that he had let her off so easily. She was happy that he was though, because she really wanted to go snorkeling with the others and realized that Kyoya knew that full well.

_I never give him enough credit…_

And the fact that he said he could wait made her...pleased. Not that she ever wanted someone to wait on her but still…she liked that someone like Kyoya even _had _the interest in girl like her…when he obviously had the ability to have any girl by his side.

"You coming or what?" Kyoya called, breaking through her thoughts.

Her eyes cleared and she noticed that Kyoya was holding both of their snorkeling gear for them, gazing at her expectantly from a distance; he was already halfway to the water.

Aria could only laugh and run after him.

* * *

**Author's Note: PLEASE READ!  
**

**Hi again! Okay, so question? Just crossed my mind. So, I noticed a lot of lot of stories here on FanFiction have relatively short chapters...or at least they seem pretty short to me. I fee like I just start reading stuff, and then WHAM! chapter is done... So I'm like WTF! I have to wait! **

**Anyways, you're probably like "get to your question!" What I'm asking is, "should I shorten the length of my chapters? or no?" The reason I ask is that I get A LOT of hits, but a small percentage of those who click this story don't subscribe for alerts or review...which means that probably...they see the first chapter and are like, "holy fuck...this is so long for her first chapter...imagine the rest of the chapters...I don't wanna sit here and read all this!" **

**So...I don't want to be the conformist and write short chapters. I mean, I am writing my own actual novel, this story is like a side project...so i sort of write my fanfics as novels. So! Tell me what you think? I'm curious  
**


	16. This isn't Twilight

**Author's note: Hello everyone! Another update for yous! So anyways, I was gone this past weekend in the snow and in a cabin so I had all kinds of time to write. It's still a little short compared to other chapters I've written. **

**I want to thank all my reviewers and readers for all the great feedback and ideas. You guys definitely keep me interested in writing this story. So anyways, please enjoy this little chapter. I hope you all know I love you all! ahah **

**I don't own anything OHSHC just my plotline and OCs.  
**

Chapter Sixteen: "This isn't _Twilight_."

"Put me down!"

Aria continued to scream this at the top of her lungs, struggling against the twins. Hikaru had picked her up under her arms and Kaoru had grabbed her ankles so they could carry her over the pool to throw her in.

Once they were at the edge, they stopped. "Throw me in and I swear to God, I will punch you both in a place where the sun doesn't shine!" she shouted, flailing around.

She still had clothes on over her bathing suit but the twins were just causing trouble. She had been able to get one of her ankles free…just for a second though before Kaoru was able to regain his hold on her.

He made a indignant face at her as they started to swing her back and forth. "Well," he said, "_that's_ not very nice, Aria."

Aria stuck out her tongue childishly before Hikaru added his input. "And it doesn't make us not want to throw you in any less."

"Just put me down!" she repeated. They smirked at each other.

"Okay," they said simply.

And with that, they tossed her into the water, clothes and all. Aria let herself sink for a moment, wondering vaguely if there was any point of getting angry with the pair. She decided that there wasn't. Her feet touched the bottom after a moment so she kicked off the ground, gasping for air once she broke the water's surface.

"I'm going to kill you both!" she shouted, but was laughing at the same time.

The twins wasted no time and a second later, they threw Haruhi in with her, her clothes still on her as well. Haruhi, however, was not quite as negligent of being thrown in with her clothes as Aria was. She was irritated, whereas Aria hadn't been.

The rest of the group was laughing to themselves and in their own ways, the twins finding this most amusing. Mori only had a smile on his face, Honey was giggling, Tamaki had a rather enormous grin on his face, and Kyoya's face held that of an entertained smirk.

"Ha ha, keep laughing…" said Aria, sending a playful death glare at Kaoru, since he had suggested the idea in the first place. "Help me out, will ya?"

She extended a hand for Kaoru to take but instead of letting him pull her out, she jerked his arm abruptly towards her, and he fell into the water over her head with his shirt still on. Aria laughed when he came to the surface with narrowed eyes.

"How on earth did you fall for _that?" _she teased, splashing water at him.

Instead of replying, he spat a fountain of water at her with his mouth.

"That's it!" she cried, leaping onto him and trying dunk his head under the water. A wrestling match ensued, involving Aria leaping onto Kaoru's back, determined to get him to go under from her weight.

It was the day after Puerto Rico and the ship was at sea. Aria had taken many beautiful pictures of the Host Club members the day before, having used the backdrop of the beach. She had all them pose for individual shots in the trees along the beach, Tamaki had taken it to heart, thinking he was going to be a model of amazing ability. He only proved to be difficult, especially with a camera with minimal settings. While doing the little mini shoots, she had the camera rolling, thinking she could use some of it for the video.

Aria had captured video and images of all of them snorkeling too.

Her and Kaoru, while snorkeling with each other, saw a sea turtle. Aria had been staring at some of the elaborately colored fish when she turned and saw the turtle's head a few feet from hers. She had screamed in shock but it had been muffled out by her snorkel. Kaoru had heard her scream and frantically turned around to see she was taking a picture of the turtle.

Aria had been so exhausted from the day in the sun that she didn't even work on any of the pictures and passed out as soon as she got into her room…and that was at ten at night.

Today was the first of two days being at sea. For now, they thought it just fine to take a swim in the regular swimming pool, the one with the slides. As for what the group was going to do after, no one was quite sure. They were just going to play everything by ear for now.

* * *

I couldn't help the sinking feeling in my stomach.

Every time I would see Aria and Kyoya-senpai together, the more I could see that the feelings he had for her were steadily becoming mutual. There was something about the way Aria would smile at Kyoya-senpai that…just wasn't there when she was with me.

She cared about me, I know. It's only been a few weeks but being in such a small proximity to each other, brought us all quite close in a short amount of time. I can honestly say that besides Hikaru, Aria knew me very well and I could call her my best friend. I didn't even have to say anything and she could tell if I was upset.

I was in a losing battle and I don't want to lose her as a friend. That was more important to me than being something more to her.

But I had to tell her how I felt for her, at the very least. Hopefully that will be a way for me to just release these feelings for her so I can move on.

I know people would just say I'm rolling over and giving up but I'm still young and it's not the end of the world. As that cliché saying goes, if it's meant to be, it will be.

That isn't to say that I'm not pissed that this is happening…and that I'm not getting jealous every time I turn around and see them talking to each other in Italian, off in their own little world.

Like right now.

We had all gotten out of the spa to dry off so we can go hang out in the arcade again. Hikaru and I were bickering with the boss, teasing him about feelings for Haruhi without coming out and saying it. I turned to find Aria so she could give her own input on it, because her usual wit rendered the boss completely speechless.

She was standing off by the spa still with Kyoya-senpai, both talking in Italian. My whole chest flared with jealousy, especially since she burst out laughing at something he said, whatever that was. Even from here, I could see this glimmer or something like that in her green eyes as she gazed up at him…and he had the same look in his.

No…the look on senpai's face was much more. I couldn't even explain it properly. He was far more serene than cold. Anyone could see that he obviously cared about her.

I hated this.

I don't have any idea of what they were talking about but I was getting angry with the fact that he beat me at the game. Shouldn't the best friend always get the girl? Why isn't it ever like that?

What sucked the most is because I know senpai's feelings are legit. I know that he isn't just interested in her for beauty or personal gain. We all know that he wouldn't toss around his feelings at any girl, unless they proved to be worth the effort and time…because he had standards to keep to. He had an appearance to keep up, especially with his father, as we all know was very conscious of his family's image.

Kyoya-senpai wouldn't waste his feelings on someone who didn't deserve him…and Aria deserved everything.

And because she did, that's why I wasn't going to fight this. If she was happy with him, than I have no right to tell her otherwise.

I'm her friend, that comes before anything to me.

* * *

The group walked along The Promenade, a deck in the interior of the ship, filled with different stores to shop from. Some, like Tamaki and Honey, already had bags in their hands, whereas others, did not.

Aria and Haruhi had been told that they were not paying for anything but if they saw anything that they wanted from any of the shops, they were free to ask for it. Aria didn't know why Haruhi hadn't asked for anything, but Aria felt uncomfortable with the idea of letting someone pay for anything that she wanted.

She just didn't want to seem ungrateful.

They were in a store called Swarovski, an entire store dedicated to crystals, shaped into whatever one could think of. Aria actually had been a little worried about going into this store, mainly because everything was incredibly fragile. Knowing the twins or even Tamaki, she was worried either one of them…or both…would go into one of their antics and then break everything in the shop.

Honey was on Mori's shoulders, looking at all the different crystals shaped into animals such as dolphins and turtles. He was pointing at one of a rabbit and begged Mori if he could get it, to which Mori just grunted approvingly. Tamaki was off looking at some jewelry. Aria thought she heard him mumbling something about "daddy getting his little girl" something from here. Haruhi was looking at some fancy vases, her father in mind, with the Hitachiin twins. They were being particularly annoying to her today.

"You can't afford that," they said, resting their arms around her shoulders. Haruhi's face darkened dramatically.

"Thanks," she snapped. "I think I've realized that."

The twins grinned. "We'll buy it for you," they said mischievously, their faces scrreaming bad news. "But only if you do something for us in return."

Their voices were dripping with faux seduction; Haruhi found this very irritating and ignored them.

Kyoya was standing by the watches, idly looking at some of the makes and brands. He wasn't interested in anything because nothing was really to his tastes. He looked up and turned to find where Aria was.

He found her by the jewelry near Tamaki, but more by the necklaces and bracelets instead of the rings and earrings.

"Vedi qualcosa che ti piace?" Kyoya said after approaching her as she was looking at some crystal pendants. _(Translation: Do you see anything you like?)_

Aria unfolded her arms and glanced up at Kyoya, who was a little closer to her than she had thought. "Niente per me, se è questo che vuoi dire." _(Translation: Nothing for me, if that's what you mean.)_

Kyoya met her eyes for a moment before he looked at what she was. She was looking at a ruby pendant in the shape of a teardrop. "It's pretty," said Kyoya in Italian. Aria smiled.

"My sister would love it…she has a thing for anything blood red," she chuckled. Kyoya smiled. "But jeeze…one hundred and fifty five dollars? I'd rather throw up my breakfast and eat it again."

Kyoya made a semi-disgusted face. "Lovely vision there..." he said. Aria laughed again.

"Sorry."

No one ended up buying anything in the store, although Aria felt like Kyoya had thought about it. She gave him a fleeting look of warning so he wouldn't get any ideas about trying to buy the pendent.

The group walked along the shops again. Honey spotted a novelty store, full of old toys and comics so everyone rushed in over there.

Aria was about to hurry along after them but Kyoya stopped her.

"Hey, tomorrow morning, I'd like it if you joined me for a walk," he said quietly. Aria narrowed her eyes and smirked up at him.

"I can only assume you mean early in the morning," she said, brushing her black hair back from her face. "We all know that the Shadow King doesn't rise early."

He returned her smirk. "I'd make the effort for you."

Aria laughed aloud, only to keep from blushing and getting embarrassed. "Promise?" she said, smiling. Kyoya rolled his eyes before pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Of course."

She shook her head. "No, you have to say you promise to."

He sighed through his nose. "I promise."

"Then, how does 6:45am sound?"

Kyoya smiled at her very slightly.

"It sounds perfect," he said, brushing back the hair that fell back into her face again. She froze under his touch but he barely lingered; he was already walking away from her.

Aria watched him from behind, her face flushing with color because of the soft touch he had used across her cheek. He was getting bold…and she strangely liked that.

He turned to look at her and stopped at the doorway of the comic store. After a moment, he smiled.

_This guy…_she thought, amused. _He is a head trip…._

_

* * *

_

_Dom…_

She stopped typing, unsure of what to say. She wanted to confide in her brother about Kyoya and her confusion of what she wanted. Aria wanted to tell him everything that's been happening, her growing feelings for Kyoya…as well as the strange guilt she had every time she thought of Kaoru.

_I don't even know how to say this without being awkward…so I'm just gonna say it. I think I like Kyoya…you know…Kyoya Ootori? That aside, he admitted to liking me too. _

_Before you freak out on me and get angry for the fact that one of these boys having some sort of feelings for me, just listen (or read). For one: I'm not having sex so don't you dare tell me that sex leads to babies, okay? I swear, if I read that one more time, I'll kill you._

_Anyways, yeah…Kyoya likes me…at least that was what his letter said and his actions are clear enough. I mean, he sent me flowers yesterday morning and he _did _try to kiss me the other night. But…I guess I was freaked out because, well you know…I'm not experienced at all in this shit. I got scared._

_But then I always feel really guilty about it because of Kaoru but I don't know why! And-_

She abruptly stopped typing because there was a knock on her door. Aria glanced at the time on her laptop, surprised to see that someone was still awake at fifteen minutes to one in the morning.

Aria stood up and went to the door. Once she opened it, she found Kaoru standing there, looking somewhat dismal or something similar.

"Kaoru-kun?" she said, concerned. "What's wrong?"

"Can we talk?" he replied, not meeting her gaze. She raised an eyebrow but stepped aside to let him in.

"Sure…" she said, worried by the tone of his reply. "Are you okay?"

He didn't verbally reply but shrugged as he made his way to her couch where her laptop was. Aria sat down beside him, quickly closing her laptop so he wouldn't be able to read anything. She thought she saw him frown but she wasn't sure.

"I'm just gonna talk so don't say anything until I'm done," he said, shifting away from her since she had sat down close to him.

"Uh…okay…?"

Kaoru scratched the back of his head, his golden eyes looking everywhere but at her; this bothered Aria. He inhaled deeply, obviously building his courage.

"Look," he said finally, "I like you."

Aria was taken aback. It was good that he had asked her not to speak until he was done because she was speechless.

"And I have always liked you," he continued. "But it's not hard to see…that I'm not the only one that feels this way for you. I mean, the whole world can tell that Kyoya-senpai likes you."

She averted her eyes away from his, feeling uncomfortable.

"So, I just wanted to tell you that I am here for you and that I care about you. You're my best friend, Aria," he said. "I just wanted to be able to say that I told you, so I don't regret anything in life. I know you care about me but I also know that you care about senpai too. I can see it when you're talking to him.

"I support you and I want you to do whatever makes you happy."

Aria realized he was done after a few awkward seconds of silence

"Kaoru-kun," she said quietly, finally looking at him. "Forgive me if this sounds conceited…and it's not that I want you to…but why wouldn't you fight for something like this? It doesn't seem like you to just give up…."

He smiled, but there was a hint of darkness in it. "I'm sorry but this isn't _Twilight. _I'm not going to be Jacob Black and Kyoya-senpai be like Edward Cullen where we both fight over a girl we care about…only to end up losing."

Aria, despite the situation, laughed. "Interesting analogy," she murmured, more to herself.

"I respect Kyoya-senpai," Kaoru explained. "I don't want to start a rift in the group. That aside, you must be important to him enough for him to let his guard down like he is."

She smiled sadly. "You're too kind sometimes," she whispered, putting a hand at his knee.

He rolled his eyes but smiling slightly. "I know."

_I know..._

_

* * *

_**Author's note: **

**Alright, just want to say/ask that if you have ANY ideas of what you would like to happen, just hit me up in the reviews! I'd love to get your opinions or ideas. I love that kind of stuff, yeah? As you can see, that Kaoru (poor Kao-chan) has been shunted to the side a little. Kyoya has seemingly won...or at least so far...? Haha, I'm not gonna do some major epic drama though, I'm not into that. I use to write like that but then I realize, it's pretty lame. hahahah**

**Aaaanyways, yes, please review! And give me your ideas! Much love for all of you!  
**


	17. Unspoken

**Author's Note: YAY! Another update! Firstly, I want to thank all those who have reviewed this story, as well as thank all those who have subscribed and read it! You guys are so freaking awesome and I love you all. Also, to one reviewer...I was aware that you can't dock on Culebra island off Puerto Rico. However, I totally forgot to mention that the ship was stopped out at sea and that they had to take a ferry. But I failed to mention that in the chapter before the last one. EPIC FAIL.  
**

**Also, I'm taking all your ideas into careful consideration but I just want to remind everyone that I know, generally, where this story is going to end up. Also, I write rather realistically, if no one has noticed, haha, so I don't tend to play up the SUPER MEGA drama like in soap operas (if you know what those are. If not...they're incredibly dramatic and every plot twist known to man is in those shows.) I do like plot twists...but I'm not big on them. Remember as well, I don't know anything of this series other than the anime. I haven't had the time or the money to read them online or buy them. So please be nice to me.  
**

**Finally, thank you for being so patient for my updates. I do try hard to keep putting up chapters at a decent pace but I have a lot going on all the time. So where I find time to write is basically the world's biggest mystery. Anyways, perty please review! I'd love to break 100! I'd be like uber happy! **

**I don't own anything OHSHC. Just my OC and plotline.  
**

Chapter Seventeen: Unspoken

I sighed noiselessly, glancing at the clock on my nightstand. It was dangerously close to one in the morning...and I was supposed to be up, at the latest, by 6am, so I could shower and meet Aria for our walk.

My sister, Fuyumi, was on the other side of the line of the phone. It was only three in the afternoon at home, so of course, she was wide awake, talking my ear off. I had made it a point not to be on my cell phone throughout the trip, but I have international coverage...and Fuyumi knew this.

At first, she was just asking how the trip was...and I surprised her by admitting to my feelings for Aria...and had asked her what she thought. My mistake...because now she had been a fifteen minute long rant, mixed with my occasional "I understand" or "yes."

Fuyumi was happy for me, as I knew she would be. However, she was now warning me of my father's probable reaction, especially because Aria's family was not of the same status that we were. I knew that this didn't bother Fuyumi at all; she preferred it actually…for me to be out of my comfort zone.

"Fuyumi…" I said finally, while she continued to babble. She didn't hear me, which caused me to roll my eyes.

"Fuyumi!" I repeated, a little more urgently. She stopped talking and there was a silent paused.

"What?" she asked.

"I appreciate everything you have said to me, you know I do," I began. "I am aware of the consequences…but all my life I did everything father wanted me to. First, I let myself do as well as our brothers, academically speaking…but I realized that I don't have to settle. So, I started to excel at all my subjects, take on more responsibilities, and show that I _deserve _to be head of the Ootori group.

"But I'm beginning to wonder if he even sees it...or if it even impresses him in the slightest. So why bother listening anymore, Fuyumi? I'm tired…. I'm tired of being my father's lackey…his dog…whatever you want to call it. I'm going to prove my worth while doing it my way. I'm going to live my life how _I_ want to.

"And I want Aria in it."

There was a very long pause, to which I wondered if she hung up. "I'm proud of you, Kyoya," Fuyumi said, barely above a whisper. I couldn't help but chuckle as I rose to a stand to stretch; the armchair was beginning to grow uncomfortable.

"Thanks," I said dryly. "I have to go to bed. I'll talk to you soon."

"Okay," she relented grudgingly. "Hey…Kyoya?"

"Yes?"

She didn't reply immediately. "Just make sure this is worth it."

I smirked to myself. "It is."

With that, I shut my cell phone with a snap. I tossed it onto the bed and pulled off my shirt, before throwing on the floor. I was tired…and I know it would be difficult for me to get up in five hours…but I also know that I would do it because it was important to me.

I pulled off my glasses and placed them on the nightstand. Finally, I collapsed onto the bed, too tired to pull off the covers and fell asleep.

It didn't even feel like I had slept long before my alarm on my cell phone and my clock alarm, that blared throughout the room, went off. I turned both of them off but I continued to lie there, unable to find the strength to get up.

Fuyumi was going to get an earful when I saw her next.

* * *

Aria turned away from the mirror and walked out of her bathroom. She tied up her hair into a high ponytail before she packed her bag for the day. She figured after her walk with Kyoya, which would be within a few minutes, they were going to come back to meet the others for breakfast, so she could just grab her bag then.

She mulled over her talk with Kaoru last night.

"_I'm not going to wait for you…but I will _always _be here for you," _he had said, with a very somber expression. _"I care about you…and I don't want to have the chance of losing you."_

After that, he had given her a kiss on the cheek and left. Aria had too many mixed emotions to finish her e-mail to Dom so she just went to bed instead.

Although it made her sad that she was hurting Kaoru in the way she was, she was glad that everything was out in the open. Aria had no intention of playing him…she hardly knew what her intentions were with Kyoya at this point.

But she couldn't deny they way Kyoya affected her.

Kaoru was her friend, that's the way both of them decided it would be. Aria could see that he only wanted to tell her so he could have a chance of moving on, instead of holding onto the possibility that something could happen.

She had made it very clear she didn't want him to wait on her.

There was a knock downstairs. Aria jumped slightly, coming out of her reverie. She rushed to go get the door, setting her bag down on the counter by the flowers.

"Buon giorno!" she said brightly as she open the door. _(Translation: Good morning!)_

Kyoya, dressed in light jacket, a t-shirt, and some jeans, smiled gently at her, hands in his pockets as always. "Buon giorno," he replied smoothly, his gray eyes twinkling, although he did look a bit tired.

"I'm surprised," Aria said in Italian, closing the door behind her while they began to walk towards the elevators.

"About?"

She chuckled. "That you were able to get dressed or even function this early in the morning," she admitted in a playful tone. Kyoya also chuckled lightly.

"It was important enough for me to make sure I got up. But I must admit, it was rather difficult," he explained, glancing at her, who giggled a little. He pushed the button for the elevator and they waited for a moment for the door to open.

Once Aria stepped inside, he followed, before pushing the top deck button. Aria was staring out through the glass at the interior of the ship with a smile on her face.

"Kyoya…" she said after a minute.

He liked that she was comfortable enough with him that she didn't attach –senpai to the end of his name.

"Yes, Aria?"

Kyoya turned his gaze to her again, finding her looking at him with those deep emerald eyes. "I already said it but, thank you," said Aria, "for everything."

He didn't reply immediately but let his signature smirk play across his lips. "You're welcome," he said simply.

The elevator door slid open to the morning air. Aria exited with Kyoya just behind her. They decided they'd just walk around the top deck on the track; all that Kyoya really wanted was her company, no matter if they walked, crawled, or ran.

It wasn't quite sunrise yet but there was enough light for them to see where they were going. Kyoya figured sunrise would be within the next ten minutes or so.

For the first half of the track, neither said a word to the other, though the silence was not uncomfortable like it had been when they first had met. The wind was a little chillier up on the top deck, plus the fact that the boat was going quite fast. It caused Aria to shiver involuntarily from the cold, seeing she was only wearing some skinny jeans and a tank top.

Kyoya noticed her cross her arms to keep warm. After a moment, he shrugged out of his jacket and placed it gently on her shoulders.

Aria looked up, slightly startled. "No, it's okay," she said, trying to hand him his jacket back. "I don't need it."

He scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous, Aria," he said, eyebrow raised. "I'm fine. You're obviously cold."

She hesitated as he held it up for her. After another thoughtful second, she groaned. She slipped her arms into the jacket while held it up for her, aware that a very intoxicating smell was radiating from it. Aria wasn't quite sure what it was but it smelled amazingly good. She wondered if Kyoya naturally smelled this way or if he put on cologne.

The sleeves were at least four inches too long for her, so she looked a little silly with a giant hoodie wrapped around her.

"Thank you…" she murmured and he only smiled his almost detached smile.

They walked along some more, having gone around the track fully now. "Don't we have another formal night tonight?" said Aria, after a moment.

Kyoya glanced at her. "That's right," he said meditatively. "I had forgotten all about it."

"That sounds uncharacteristic of you," she teased. He smiled.

"May I escort you tonight?" he asked, ignoring her playful banter.

She grinned at the floor, crossing her arm to keep out the wind from her sleeves. "Sure, if you want to."

"Of course I want to. Why else would I ask?" he replied. Aria didn't respond but continued to grin down at the track to herself.

After a few minutes, she looked up, just as the sun was coming out over the horizon. They stopped by the side of the ship to look out over the sea and sky, speckled with a few clouds. Kyoya rested his elbows on the railing, leaning on it a bit but he remained rather silent for a while.

Aria vaguely noticed how close he was standing next to her, knowing that he usually kept a safe distance between them.

"What are you thinking?" he asked abruptly, finally breaking his eyes away from the sunrise and to look at her.

She met his gaze for a moment before turning away with a somewhat somber expression. "I'm not of high class, Kyoya," Aria said, her voice quiet. "I'm not wealthy, I don't know anything about proper etiquette…. I'm sarcastic as hell, although lately I've been able to cut that back a little bit. I can't hold my tongue sometimes in situations when I should."

Aria paused for a second. "I'm nothing like you."

Kyoya turned from her and looked at the reddish sea, reflecting the sun and clouds. She watched him, his face virtually void of emotion and she wondered if she said something he didn't want to hear.

"I know."

That was all he said and Aria couldn't help but frown. "I don't know much about the Ootori family, but I'm fairly sure that someone won't approve of who you are casting your affections at, Kyoya."

He smiled at this, remembering how Fuyumi had just been saying the same thing. "No, I don't believe anyone will approve, save for my sister," he replied, not favoring her with a glance.

"Then why risk-?"

Kyoya turned to her abruptly, cutting her short. She couldn't tell what he was feeling because there was a glare in his glasses that blocked out his eyes. "Because I believe you to be worth the time and effort, Aria."

He stared down at her, his lips no longer in any sort of smile. In fact, he looked a bit intimidating, which caused Aria to back away a step or two.

"I know the consequences this could bring about, I know the repercussions could be devastating," Kyoya continued, his tone darker now. "I know that there is a high probability that my father will vehemently disapprove of my affections for you because you 'lack' wealth. But I don't care."

Aria cringed. "Please don't say that…" she whispered, barely above the wind.

"No. I honestly don't care," he repeated firmly. "I don't care what he thinks of my personal life. It does not mean, however, that I'm not still going to keep trying to surpass my brothers to prove I'm far more suitable to be head of the Ootori group. But I may not inherit anything from the Ootori family. There is a possibility that the Ootori legacy will not be passed to me but to my older brother, seeing that this is already how it seems for now, despite my efforts. I'm the youngest of my father's sons. I've done everything I can my entire life to prove to my father that I deserve it more than them but it may not matter. So why is there for me to gain by listening to what he has to say anymore? It obviously is pointless."

She lowered her eyes; the bitterness in his voice was unmistakable. "So you're using me to get back at your father?"

Kyoya lost his hard edge immediately. He couldn't help but sigh audibly at her lack of confidence in him. He reached out and placed a finger under her chin to lift her face up. He looked directly into her eyes before speaking.

"You misconstrued my small speech, Aria," he said, sending a shiver through her body at the sound of her name being said from his lips. "I do not seek retribution on my father or brothers for that matter, and I certainly wouldn't use you for it either."

Aria's lips twitched into a smile and she felt him drop his hand. "Kyoya, I can't imagine the pressure you have to exceed your brothers socially and academically…but I don't want to see you give up either-"

He chuckled, cutting her off. "I never said I was simply giving up on proving my worth and ability," he said, turning his gaze to the water for a moment. "My father wants to be impressed by me…and I will do so by doing whatever the hell I want, as well as surpassing my brothers before me," he paused…almost dramatically, "and I want to do it with you by my side."

She didn't meet his gaze because she was starting to blush again.

"You're risking a lot," she said quietly.

She felt his fingers brush the skin on her face again before he cupped her cheek with his hand. He very gently turned her face to look at him. The look in his eyes was something Aria had never seen him hold before.

"The only thing I'm risking," he replied softly, "is my heart."

Aria stared at him for a moment before she broke into a grin.

"That was _so_ cheesy!" she laughed, instinctively embracing him. Kyoya chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. This was the first time she had ever been held by any boy she had liked, not that there were many to speak of. She felt safe, as cliché as it sounds…and she felt like she belonged there in his arms.

"What?" he said innocently. "You don't like cheesy?"

She laughed into his chest. "It's just not you."

"How so?"

Aria snorted. "You're the nice guy, yes, but you obviously have your dark side, Shadow King moments, or Ice King, as I call you-"

"Lovely," he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Another little giggle from her. "You totally have your Ice King moments!" she exclaimed. "You're usually so standoffish, indifferent, aloof, cold since we've gotten on this trip…."

Kyoya scoffed. "Can we try something a little more positive?"

"How about charming…smooth…mysterious…enticing…dashing…enigmatic…?" she offered, looking up at him from his arms.

"That's suitable, I suppose," he said offhandedly.

"But that's only when you're at work in the host club or in a situation that you have something to gain…. Trust me, I pay attention."

Kyoya didn't argue because she was right. "Although," she said thoughtfully, "you go through all this trouble pretending you're an asshole when deep down, I know you're a nice guy. Your mask is transparent to me."

"You're one of the few that's seen through it," he said quietly from above. "You're more intuitive that you let on."

Aria laughed before resting against his chest but remained silent.

He continued to hold her close, never having been so close to anyone like this, save for Tamaki who would tackle him from time to time. He had no idea what was going to happen. He was only sure of what he wanted….

And didn't Tamaki say once to him…that the only person stopping him was him, not his brothers…not his father. Just him. He resolved not long ago that he wouldn't put his own self in the way anymore…this was no different.

"I think it's highly unfair for you to smell this good…" Aria mumbled. Kyoya blinked before he laughed lightly.

"What?" he asked, confused.

Aria smiled to herself. "As awkward as this is going to sound, but you smell really…_really _good," she repeated. "And I think it's very unreasonable for you to just waltz around smelling this way. You're going to make girls come after you…and I just can't handle all that competition."

Another signature Kyoya chuckle. "You're ridiculous," he said. "There is no competition for you to worry about."

"Right…" said Aria cynically. "Do you use cologne…?"

"No."

Aria rolled her eyes. "Of course not…perfection comes naturally to you."

Kyoya scoffed. "I'm not perfect," he said somewhat sternly. "So quit saying that I am."

"Then what is it then!" she exclaimed.

"This miraculous invention known as soap."

Aria narrowed her eyes. "I could punch you," she said in a playfully dark tone. "Honestly."

"I'm sure…" he replied sardonically. "But until then, I think we should head down for breakfast."

He felt her release him rather reluctantly; he felt the same about her leaving his arms. When he looked at her again fully, he understood her unspoken statement.

She wasn't quite ready to tell anyone the state of their relationship…and Kyoya wasn't quite sure what it was anyways. Again, they were going to hold their tongues and not let on to the fact that both like the other.

Kyoya knew from is research of her from the beginning that Aria had never been a romantic relationship with anyone before, so he understood why she was hesitant. Kyoya hadn't ever either, but this was also the first time any girl had been worth the time to pursue.

He felt it was in both of their best interests if they were to take things slow. Especially for Aria, who obviously was scared, even though Kyoya know that she wouldn't admit to being afraid of what a relationship entails.

He wouldn't promise that he wouldn't hurt her…but he knew that he would never intentionally hurt her.

Aria smiled before turning to leave for breakfast. Kyoya watched her walk away…before letting a smile of his own tug at his lips.

* * *

"Where have you been?"

I rolled over, confused. I found Hikaru laying on his side, glaring at me. "I've been in bed with you all night. What are you talking about?" I said, raising my eyebrow.

Hikaru sat up, a little angry. "That's not what I meant," he said, refusing to meet my gaze. "You've been really distant for the last few weeks, Kaoru. It's like…there's this wall between us suddenly."

I couldn't help but sigh inwardly and I sat up too. I knew that this was going to come up eventually…but I didn't realize quite this early.

It was always our world…and no one in it.

I saw the attraction Hikaru had for Haruhi and for a long time now, I wondered when he would continue with the next step and leave me behind. For a while, I wasn't sure what I was going to do without Hikaru. It was outside our bubble…what we were use to.

But Aria invaded our bubble…just like the boss…and like Haruhi. Aria pulled me in one direction and Haruhi pulled Hikaru in another. I wouldn't have called it a wall…more like a rift.

Hikaru and I…are not the same person, as I've begun to realize. We may be twins but…that's as far as it goes.

But Hikaru keeps running back to me when he should be running for Haruhi. I've begun to walk away…to step out of the bubble without him and I know now…that he is freaking out.

I have nothing though, at least in that direction that I had attempted to follow. Aria only sees me as a friend so maybe, staying by Hikaru's side for a while longer wouldn't be so bad. My heart aches knowing I've lost the game to Kyoya-senpai, but really, there is nothing I would have been able to do.

"I'm sorry, Hikaru," I said softly, wrapping my arms around his bare torso. I didn't know what else to say to him. "We _have_ been…distant. I'm sorry. I won't leave you."

"You can't just abandon me, _Kaoru_." He spat out my name so obviously he was still angry. But when he was hurt, he usually turned it into anger. Most people didn't understand that. "You know we are the only ones we've got."

I knew that he was only saying that, but that was an unspoken understanding. He knows that we have the Host Club to rely on too. We've let them understand us a little more and we could trust them. But Hikaru tends to get scared if I'm not with him.

Not that I don't get scared when he is not with me…but I've come to terms that we are eventually going to have to grow up and move on with our lives. As nice as it would be to live the same life until we die…that would be dumb. What? Would we marry the same girl?

The thought made me cringe.

I wonder when I should break it to him that we were two separate beings, two different types of people…. I don't know what that would do to him, especially if he was not ready to deal with that kind of talk. Then again, Hikaru doesn't like to talk deep anyways. It was never his thing.

"How can you say that I'll abandon you, Hikaru?" I whispered, resting my cheek on his shoulder. "I will never leave you."

Hikaru's hand gripped mine tight.

"Ever," I finished firmly.

I hated how I was lying through my teeth.


	18. Pinky Promise

**Author's Note: Hello lovely readers and reviewers! Here is another update for you awesome people! Um, I'd like to apologize for any typos that I miss. When I write this on Microsoft Word, it gets confused because I have so much Italian in it...so sometimes it doesn't pick up on my spelling mistakes. -_- yeah, it gets pretty irritating. anyways, I hope you like this chapter. It's a slightly filler chapter, and there are no dramatics with the whole love triangle thing. Remember, I write realistically!**

**Also, reminder...I did not read the manga, as much as I would love to. So, my knowledge is only based off the anime series. So pleeeeeease, don't hate me if I don't follow everything. Other than that, enjoy! Tomorrow (story wise) is BARBADOS! alkdfjaldj! Byes! Remember to review or bash, or hate, love, whatever you wish.**

**I don't own anything of OHSHC, just my OCs and plotlines.  
**

Chapter Eighteen: Pinky Promise

The group were all playing mini golf on the top deck under the blazing sun that afternoon. Mori was winning; he seemingly was a miniature golf pro with the way he was making impossible hole-in-ones. Who would've thought Mori was a good mini golfer…?

"Mori-senpai!" the twins whined as he made his third hole-in-one on the sixth hole. What killed them the most was not that he was winning...but it was the fact that Mori was very unemotional about each hole-in-one he made. He didn't even smile about it. In fact, Honey was doing more of the celebrating for him, with the jumping and hollering.

When they first started, they were able to pick out which color golf balls they wanted. Aria called the red one, Mori the black one, Honey took yellow, Kaoru took orange, Hikaru forced Haruhi to take the pink one, Hikaru himself called the green one, Kyoya the dark blue, and Tamaki took the last one, the sky blue one.

As of right now, it was Tamaki's turn, and he thought it completely necessary to lie on the floor and try to judge the field like a real professional golfer.

"_Some_time this millennia would be nice, senpai," said Aria in an ornery tone, leaning against her putter in a bored fashion. She had taken off her shirt, not wanting to gain an awkward tan line from her racerback tank top. At first, she had been rather uncomfortable with idea but then she saw Mori and the twins take off their shirts because they were sweating. Thankfully, the twins did not wolf whistle like they normally do when her or Haruhi take off their shirts.

She glanced over at Kyoya, who was sitting down on a bench, his infamous clipboard in hand. "I see you're not joining in on the fun," she called to him. He didn't favor her with a glance but she know she saw his lips twitch to a smirk for a second.

"I am not," he replied simply, writing idly on the clipboard.

Aria figured. He had been keeping track of who was winning, having left his putter and golf ball at the desk after everyone went to the course.

"_Shocking_…" she said sarcastically to herself, returning her attention to Tamaki, who finally was upright and ready to hit. "Jeeze, finally."

"This takes full concentration and precision, petite sœur," he said, practically staring at the ball like he would kill it.

She chuckled lightly. "Do you always have to say little sister in French?"

"Yes!" he shouted, abruptly turning to her and pointing his putter into her face. "Maybe you'll actually learn French and talk to me that way!"

She rolled her eyes, and pushed the end of the stick away from her. "Again the with the dramatics," she teased. "Can you just go!"

Tamaki narrowed his eyes at her. "Why!" he exclaimed. "When it is hardly fair you can gallivant around, speaking in Italian to _Kyoya," _he half spat the name out, "and not to me."

Aria caught Kaoru's sudden uncomfortable look but she ignored it so she could snap at Tamaki, who was really just wasting time.

She was beaten to it, however.

"Tamaki," said Kyoya sounding slightly irritated, who had come over now, clipboard at his side, "you're holding up the game."

"But mommy dearest!" Tamaki wailed, suddenly leaping onto Kyoya from behind while "crying" and staring at Aria. "It just isn't fair for her to leave her brother out of the loop. Tell Aria to speak in French!"

Kyoya's face darkened half a shade at the word "mommy." He was stiff under Tamaki's hold but he spoke somewhat gently. "She will when she is fluent."

"Tamaki-senpai," snapped Haruhi before he could reply. "Seriously, just play the game! Otherwise, I'm leaving."

Aria didn't think she'd seen him listen to anyone quite like he had just now. He hardly took a moment to aim but just hit the ball viciously down the green.

After that little incident, the game continued rolling on. Aria was always last to hit, after Honey. The twins always hit at the same time, which they were doing so now.

_And they wonder why they never get hole-in-ones, _she mused just after their golf balls hit each other and sent one another in different directions…away from the hole. They whined at this and then begged Mori for pointers. Mori obviously didn't have much to say.

"Come si cura?" said Kyoya beside her. _(Translation: How is this healing?)_

Aria looked over and saw that he was looking at her cut on her hip. "Kyoya, che è stato una settimana fa!" she laughed. _(Translation: Kyoya, that was a week ago!)_

He smiled slightly before turning his gaze back to the game; Haruhi was putting. "Yes," he said indifferently and in Italian. "But I wanted to make sure it was healing properly. Especially with all the swimming and salt water it's been in."

Aria glanced down at the week old gash. She had stopped wearing bandages about three days ago to cover it. It had been deep enough for her to have to cover it for at least a few days but not deep enough for stitches. At this point, it was starting to heal, leaving behind a dark mark.

"It's scarring so it's healing," she replied.

He glanced at it. "That's not scarring," he said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "It's hyper-pigmentation, which is just when your skin grows darker from inflammation or wounds. Scarring would be actual skin deformation. It'll fade with time."

Aria put a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing at his little dictionary definition because it was really unnecessary. "Thank you for that assessment," she said, amused. He noticed the tone and saw her holding in her laugh.

She waved her hand dismissively so he wouldn't question her and watched Honey go up and place his golf ball down.

Before anyone understood what he was doing, he took a swing at the golf ball like they were at an actual golf course. He hit the ball so hard that it left the green and made for a wall about five yards from them before bouncing back.

Aria was sure it was going to hit Kyoya square in the face, and everyone else thought the same. Tamaki, Aria, Haruhi, and the twins shouted out his name in warning but Mori's hand suddenly shot out and caught the ball in midair.

The twins and Tamaki all clapped with awe.

"Mitsukuni," said Mori in his usual flat voice. "That was dangerous. You should know better than that."

Honey's eyes looked like there was a possibility of them welling up with tears. "I'm sorry, Takashi," he said, trying to keep the sad tone out of his voice; he failed miserably. Mori half grunted and gestured slightly to Kyoya. "Oh, and sorry Kyo-chan."

"It's quite all right, senpai," Kyoya said with an easy going smile. "No one was hurt."

The group continued to play and finished around twelve thirty in the afternoon. Throughout the game, Aria had stepped back as an observer for the time being.

The Hitachiin brothers seemed up to their tricks, but more than normal today. They were also more attached at the hip and speaking in complete unison more than usual too, as well as the fact they were picking on Tamaki more. For example, half the shots that Tamaki was making on the green, they'd kick the back of his knees so he'd hit the ball sloppily; Tamaki did not find this amusing and proceeded to chase them around with his putter as a weapon for a good four minutes before Haruhi yelled at them.

Aria wondered why they were behaving so mischievous again like when they had first met her…and if it had anything to do with her and Kaoru's talk last night.

Speaking of that talk, Aria had been worried it was going to be awkward between her and Kaoru today but it was obvious that nothing had changed. He was teasing her like he always does and she always snapped back with her usual sarcastic comment…which resulted in more lighthearted bickering and banter.

Mori was being his pensive self…she didn't think he would ever change that. He and Honey still were the same duo that they were as well, Honey always sitting on Mori's shoulders and giggling all the time.

Kyoya was Kyoya and that was it…but what really caught her eye today though was Tamaki and Haruhi.

It was so obvious that he cared about her. Despite his outlandish and rather ridiculous behavior, Aria knew there was something more that he held for Haruhi. She always saw him glancing over at Haruhi with these…warm and affectionate eyes when she wasn't looking or was busy reprimanding the twins. Tamaki was just unbelievably confused about what he was feeling.

Maybe she should talk to Kyoya about it…

Aria would never really be able to explain the relationship that Tamaki and Haruhi had to someone who was outside the Host Club. If she were to try to describe it to say, Dom, he would probably not see that Tamaki cares for her. He wouldn't be able to look past how incredibly eccentric Tamaki is, especially with the whole "mommy, daddy, daughter, sister" thing that he has going on.

On second thought…maybe she'd just talk to Haruhi about it.

* * *

"What's wrong?"

Aria turned from her spot on the bed, only in her underwear, towards the bathroom. Haruhi stood at the doorway, towel wrapped around her and her hair wet, looking concerned.

"Nothing's wrong," replied Aria, confused. "Why?"

Haruhi shrugged. "Well, I don't know…it's just you're not dancing around with music on, which is your regular routine for formal nights."

Aria couldn't help but laugh at her observation. "True…" she said, grinning. "I was just pondering."

Haruhi sort of squinted her eyes at Aria, but there was a sort glow of amusement or mischief there. "On Kyoya-senpai, I'm guessing?" she said in the slightest of teasing.

Aria narrowed her eyes back at her before sticking out her tongue childishly. "_No_, actually," she said, somewhat indignant. "It was more about…"

She paused, unsure if she should continue. "…about you and Tamaki-senpai, to be honest," Aria concluded. Haruhi immediately averted her eyes away from her and walked towards her undergarments to pick them up. She quickly went back into the bathroom and shut the door.

Aria, in spite of herself, felt a huge grin splay across her lips. She stood up, thoroughly amused, and went to the door.

"Why don't you want to talk about it?" she said to the door.

No answer.

"Haruhiiiii," Aria sang pleasantly.

Still nothing, other than an occasional sound of movement in the bathroom.

"Haruhi!"

Again, silence.

Aria scoffed. "You know, this is _my _room…and you're going to have to come out eventually," she snapped impatiently.

The door opened very abruptly, Haruhi's brown eyes looking rather cold. "Because I don't want to talk about it."

Haruhi stalked past her towards Aria's case of make-up. "Because you _so _like him," pursued Aria, tailing behind her.

"You're just assuming that."

"And I'm right," said Aria firmly. "You know I am."

Haruhi stopped at the dresser, her body rigid. "Quit grinning like an idiot," she snapped to the wall. Aria cocked her head to the side slightly.

"Wait, how did you-?"

"Because I can feel you smiling all triumphantly, thinking you've got me trapped in some sort of corner," Haruhi replied, obviously through clenched teeth.

Aria laughed lightly but also sighed. "Look, you don't have to talk about it…but he totally likes you and I know you like him. You're completely oblivious and it's just mind-boggling to me."

Haruhi turned around.

There was a silent moment between them, where both girls were staring at each other…in their underwear no less.…

"Fine!" relented Haruhi. "We can talk about it…just not now because we are going to be late."

Aria frowned. "Promise?" she said, holding up her pinky. Haruhi eyed it doubtfully.

"What am I supposed to do with that?"

Aria sighed heavily and grabbed Haruhi's hand and wrapped her finger around hers. "It's called a Pinky Promise. You can't break these…they're legit."

Haruhi looked at her uncertainly. "Whatever…sure. Promise."

With that, Aria set about dolling themselves up.

Both were going to wear their other matching dresses, Haruhi wearing the white and Aria the black. The dress was long, reaching down to their toes. The straps and a piece in the middle under the bust was covered in glittering rhinestones. The straps formed a V in the back, which also led to a diamond shaped opening at the lower back. At the butt area, the fabric gathered just slightly.

Aria did their make-up just the same, doing a 50s style of eye makeup. She lined only the tops of their eyes, extending the line to a slight winged effect. Of course, both looked different, seeing that Haruhi's eyes were Asian and Aria's weren't.

"Did you find out who the flowers were from?" asked Haruhi as Aria was messing with Haruhi's hair, trying to figure out what she wanted to do with it.

"Uh," she said lamely. "No…?"

Haruhi snorted. "They're from Kyoya-senpai, aren't they?"

"Yes…" said Aria, defeated.

Haruhi did not reply, however, much to Aria's surprise. It looked like she was doing her own thoughtful musing herself now.

Aria had finished her hair spraying her hair in place when there was knock downstairs. Haruhi raised an eyebrow at her, slightly smirking. Aria already knew what that look was for.

"Stop it," Aria snapped, hitting Haruhi in the arm, hurrying downstairs.

When she opened the door, she was surprised to find not only Kyoya, but Tamaki as well. Aria smirked instantly, and she knew Kyoya knew why she was.

"Tamaki-senpai!" Haruhi gasped when she saw Tamaki. "What are you doing here?"

Before Tamaki could even open his mouth, Kyoya cut in. "Since I was escorting Aria to dinner tonight, I thought I'd invite Tamaki along to escort you, Haruhi."

Haruhi shot Kyoya a glare but he continued to smile pleasantly.

"It would be discourteous if you were to walk alone," added Tamaki, looking positively ridiculous with his huge grin on his face. Aria put a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing, vaguely wondering why she found it amusing.

Haruhi snorted purposefully. "I'm sure," she said almost scathingly. Tamaki missed the irritated tone in her voice and proceeded to compliment both girls.

"Thank you, senpai," said Aria, sort of bowing at him. "We should go."

Tamaki then quickly held out his arm for Haruhi, looking absolutely thrilled. Haruhi clearly held down a sigh while she glanced at his arm doubtfully.

"I despise you," hissed Haruhi at Kyoya as she took his arm. Tamaki didn't hear it, seeing that he had started babbling about how nice dinner will be and adding again how beautiful Haruhi looked. Kyoya smirked at her as Tamaki pulled her along.

Kyoya and Aria hadn't moved from the spots but watched the walk down the hall. Haruhi noticed this and shot another dark look at the pair of them, who were still standing at the door. "I'm gonna kill you both!" she mouthed at them.

Aria winked and blew her an air kiss, to which Haruhi narrowed her eyes at her.

"She apparently thinks we are tag teaming her," said Aria quietly in Italian, as she waved to her. Kyoya chuckled, watching Tamaki practically drag Haruhi. He obviously forgot that Kyoya and Aria existed at this point.

"So it seems," he said in the same tongue, also waving.

"I'm not the only one who sees it then, am I?" asked Aria.

Kyoya glanced at her, a glare of light reflecting of his glasses for a moment. "His feelings for her?" he said. "No…it's fairly obvious."

Aria giggled to herself, glad that Kyoya was pushing Tamaki like Aria was attempting to push Haruhi together.

She turned to Kyoya finally when Tamaki and Haruhi had disappeared. She held up her hand, faking a haughty disposition. "Well, isn't time for you to escort me, sir?" she said, looking almost arrogant.

Kyoya smirked his infamous smirk and reached for her hand. Gently, he pulled it to his lips, kissing her fingers for a moment while his eyes were locked with hers.

At this, Aria blushed.

"Of course," he said in his silkiest tone, lowering her hand and straightening up. "Right this way, Miss Auditore."

He offered his arm for her to take and they made their way towards the elevator.

* * *

Dinner, as always, was delicious.

Everyone complimented Haruhi and Aria for their beautiful matching dresses and then discussed their day tomorrow in Barbados. Aria was particularly excited to see Barbados, mainly for the fact that she had seen so many beautiful pictures of the island. For the morning, the planned to take a hike through the flora and fauna before heading out for a dive to see some of the shipwrecks.

After dinner, Aria had a waiter take a couple of group pictures of them so she could add it to her own collection of pictures…as well as attempt to see if she could photoshop Haruhi somehow into looking like a guy (it was becoming very tedious to keep her identity up with how often Aria had to make sure Haruhi was in an easily accessible spot to cut out in pictures so she could put Haruhi in as a guy. Luckily, she had had Haruhi dressed in a tux a few days ago and made her take pictures so she could swap them into the formal shots).

Everyone began to make their way back to their rooms to change out of their formal attire before they decided to take a night swim on the upper deck in the pools.

"Is it raining?" the twins said suddenly, silencing the rest of the group while they were walking down the hall to their rooms. Everyone stopped to listen intently to what the twins had mentioned.

Sure enough, there was the sound of water.

"That's strange," said Kyoya meditatively. "There was nothing in the weather reports of rain on the way to Barbados…."

Everyone looked at him, as if he would have some sort of answer.

"Then again," he added, "the Caribbean is known for sudden and random downpours. They're usually brief though."

Everyone listened again to see if they could figure it out.

"That sounds way too loud to be rain…" Haruhi said uncertainly. Aria agreed as they all sat there in confusion.

After a few moments, Aria looked down the hall towards the rooms.

"Kyoya," she said suddenly and sounding apprehensive.

"Yes, Aria?" he asked, the rest of the group now looking at her expectantly too.

She pointed down the hall.

Once everyone knew what she was talking about, they gasped…well, Mori and Kyoya aside. From Kyoya and Kaoru's doors, water was pouring out from under it into the hallway at a very fast pace.

They all ran towards the rooms and Kyoya pushed open his door quickly, a small flood of water rushing out over their feet.

It was like a scene from _Titanic. _

It looked as if there was a downpour inside of Kyoya's room. From the high, metal ceiling above, water was gushing out, probably from some sort of pipe breakage. There was the unmistakable smell of something burning or very similar to it from something short-circuiting. The floor was at least a few inches deep in water.

Kaoru opened his door as well, thankfully his was not as bad. The water from Kyoya's room was leaking into his.

Aria glanced at Kyoya, who was still staring into the raining room, much like rest of the group. His gray eyes had gone black with rage but he had remained outwardly unfazed.

"I'll go call for help!" Tamaki said suddenly, apparently having broken free of the shock first. He dashed into his room to go use the phone.

The twins started running around like chickens with their head's chopped off, screaming about how the ship was sinking and that they were going to die. Honey then apparently joined in on this, wailing to Mori about being too young to die and not having had enough sweets to die yet. Mori was attempting to quell Honey's worries but nothing really seemed work while Haruhi was shouting at the Hitachiin brothers to stop screaming and running around about the ship sinking.

All while there was this commotion and panic, Kyoya turned on his heel and stalked away back down the hall.

"Senpai!" called Haruhi, "where you going?"

He didn't answer and continued to walk.

Aria quickly took the reins of the situation. She put her fingers to her lips and whistled incredibly loud, making the rest of the group stop screaming.

"We are _not _gonna die," she snapped, mainly to Hikaru and Kaoru, who were clutching each other tight still with tears streaking their faces. "It's probably a broken pipe. We aren't sinking, for Christ's sake. Am I clear?"

No one really answered but she didn't wait for one either. "Listen to me, you guys have get everything out of Kaoru's room before anything of his gets any water damage. We can't save anything from Kyoya's, it's already too late."

After a moment, they understood what she was saying and hurried into Kaoru's flooded room.

"Haruhi, just wait for Tamaki-senpai and notify the employees of the situation if you see any," continued Aria, taking off her heels and tossing them into her room; she hoped that the water wouldn't reach into her room before the mess was cleaned up. "Don't go into Kyoya's room. Something probably short-circuited in there. You might get electrocuted."

"And where are _you_ going?" asked Haruhi, confused.

Aria glanced down the hallways, just as Kyoya went into the elevator.

She hiked up her dress and sprinted down the hallway towards the stairs. "I'm going to make sure Kyoya doesn't kill someone!"

* * *

**Author's Note: by the way, I've been on two cruises...so on occasion, I've drawn from my experience. This flooding experience has actually happened to me. It was not fun...**

**Long story short, we were in the middle of tropical storm...and I was in my room with my sister. We were watching TV, late at night, and I jumped down off the bunk bed so I could use the bathroom. When I hit the floor, I splashed...and i was in ankle deep water. My sister and I freaked the fuck out because we thought we were sinking and we were all going to die. Our two cousins were with us too so they were freaking out...and both of our parents were not with us because they were at the casino.**

**Anyways, my parents room next door had a pipe burst in the ceiling so the water was leaking into our room. We luckily were able to save a lot of my parents stuff but still...my mom was so pissed. -_- They got a really nice new room out of it though. hahah, yeah, but the panic and terror of thinking we were sinking because of the storm was just...off the hook. Ugh...**

**Great story, right? haha xoxo  
**


	19. Angel

**Author's note: Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't kept up with updating for the last month. I had a bit of a writer's block and what not and I also ended up moving so I was without internet a gain for a week and a half. But I finally sat myself down and wrote. Please remember that when people begin to fall in love, that people tend to change...not completely...but slightly because people are always growing. But I leave it at that so please enjoy yourselves. :) This chapter is a little bit of insight on Aria. Remember to review and/or criticize. Or if you have any questions or suggestions, you are more than welcome to ask me anything to your heart's content! My apologies to rpatz15 for causing you pain! ^_^ I love all my reviewers and readers. You guys mean everything to me.**

**I don't own anything of OHSHC. Just my OCs and plotline.**

**Also, just a little tidbit of information, I think I'm going to write another fanfiction for OHSHC but I'm not quite sure yet. I'll keep you guys updated. I have a plotline and everything but I'm unsure if I should start on it yet.  
**

Chapter Nineteen: Angel

Aria sprinted up the stairs as fast as she could in her dress, praying she wouldn't trip and fall, or tear it, or both. She figured Kyoya was heading the concierge desk or to talk to the ship's management. Well, she wasn't so sure he was going to be talking as much as he would be shouting. She certainly didn't want to have the wrath of the Shadow King released upon innocent bystanders.

She was already panting half way up but she kept climbing until she reach the upper deck, her thighs screaming at her to rest. Aria paid no mind to her body though and only to her mission to save the ship from Kyoya. Thankfully, she beat the elevator up and she stood in front of the doors, struggling for breath, as they opened.

"Kyoya!" she gasped before he could ask her what she was doing. "Wait."

He brushed past her, his eyes incredibly dark with anger. Aria wasn't sure if it was a good idea to put herself in the middle of this situation since he could definitely turn his anger on her just for being in the way. It didn't matter; she had to risk it.

She gripped him by the upper arm to stop him. "Kyoya," she repeated.

"_What?" _he shot at her scathingly, making her back away a step while she released her hold on his arm.

Aria immediately threw up her defenses. "Don't _'what'_ me like that, Kyoya," she snapped back viciously, her emerald eyes narrowed. "I didn't do anything to you."

He was slightly taken aback at her reaction and she saw a flash of remorse in his eyes but she knew him well enough that he wasn't about to apologize for lashing out at her.

There was a moment of silence between them, one where Kyoya uncharacteristically refused to meet her eyes. "Hai bisogno di calmarsi," she said in a more gentle tone now. (Translation: You need to calm down.)

"Io sono tranquillo." (Translation: I am calm.)

Aria snorted. "My ass, you're calm," she said cynically in Italian.

He finally met her eyes before speaking.

"I don't know if you were _blind_ for those four minutes down there," said Kyoya through clenched teeth, "but in case you were, it's _raining_ in my room! I have every right to be pissed off!"

Aria did her best to remain calm, seeing that the both of them being angry would get them no where…and possibly into a fight; it irritated her when people attack those who are innocent merely because they can't control their temper.

"Did you see all my belongings, Aria?" he was now shouting. "Everything in there is damaged, including my laptop, which has enormous amounts of data about the Host Club on it! My clothes, my luggage, my tuxes, everything is destroyed! This was entirely preventable if someone would have took the time out to check the pipes. Now, Kaoru and I have to share rooms with one of the others and you _know _who I'm going to be bunking with. _And _I'm going to have to buy everything that was damaged! So don't you dare tell me to calm down!"

She stared blankly up at him at his outburst. Aria knew that he was only reacting like this because he was angry…and she was glad it was at her and not someone like an employee of the ship, who's job would be on the line now. It was a little intimidating to see him this way, especially with the way the light was reflecting off his glasses, making it impossible to see his eyes.

…but he was completely different than she had ever seen him.

The Kyoya she was accustomed to was the "I'm super nice and cool" guy with a large side order of jerk. That being said, she has never seen him behave in this manner. Then again, other than the incident at Aquaventure (which really doesn't even count), she had never seen Kyoya angry before. Indifferent and aloof, but not ragingly pissed off. He wasn't even speaking in his usual high-class and astounding vocabulary.

Seeing him this way…caused her to lose her irritation with him.

"Anything the Ootori family owns should never malfunction, accident or otherwise," he continued on, still on the loud side. "If I'm to be respected in my family, I should put my foot down and-!"

"Hey, hey, _hey!" _she said over him to drown him out. She had her hands at his upper arms and she stared up into the darkness of his eyes, hoping she would be able to calm him down. Aria tried to make her voice sound gentle and reassuring as possible. "Relax. It's going to be fine."

"The hell it is," he growled. Aria sighed heavily before she took him by the hand and dragged him to the nearest plush armchair. There were many sitting areas by windows scattered throughout the ship so she found one quickly. However, he was being rather difficult, seeing that he stopped completely at one point, causing her to jerk back in surprise. This made her a little irritated again because she had to jerk him forward. But she was able to gently pushed him to sit down in the chair.

"Sit," she ordered, while pointing at the chair. He automatically glared at her. "Oh, quit behaving like a child."

Kyoya didn't budge. "I don't have time for this," he snapped, roughly pushing past her again. Aria immediately grabbed him by the collar from behind and wrenched him back to her.

"_Sit down."_

She had spoken firmly, her eyes ready for him to challenge her. Kyoya reluctantly…and resentfully…sat in the chair after a long moment of tense silence between them and shooting imaginary lasers out of their eyes. He looked rather stiff, seeing that he didn't lean back or put his arms on the armrest.

Aria pulled up a chair and sat down in front of him.

"Okay…let's just analyze the reasons you're angry for a moment, shall we?" she said, mocking a slightly pleasant voice so as to keep him generally calm. He shot her yet another death glare.

"For what reason and purpose?" he said acidly.

She held up a hand to silence him. "First: yelling at the person behind the concierge desk is a bit ridiculous. That person is in charge of ship activities…not maintenance. He didn't do anything wrong and it isn't his fault. Ah, ah, ah…" she said quickly as Kyoya opened his mouth to argue. "I'm not finished. Second: yes, you're clothes are very wet most likely, seeing that the entire ceiling had water gushing through the gaps between the metal plates. But…they have this _miraculous_ invention known as a drying machine. Ever heard of it? No? Well, it's really cool because you put wet clothes in…" she paused dramatically, "and then dry ones come out! It's that just crazy?"

Aria made a face of awe after she finished speaking. Kyoya ignored her sarcastic tone and remained mute, his arms crossed and his expression still angry, but he still caught her small imitation of him with the words "miraculous invention" that he has said earlier in the day about soap.

"Third: Someone as 'brilliant' as you probably backed up your information for the Host Club on some sort of outside source, be it a flash drive, a larger external hard-drive, or on the internet somewhere. Am I correct?" she asked, leaning forward and resting her elbows at her knees.

Kyoya glanced at her. "Yes."

"Exactly!" she exclaimed, smiling. "See? You have nothing to worry about. Shit happens…you know that…hence why you back up your information. Yay, problem solved. Fourth: Rooming with Tamaki for a few days isn't going to be the end of the world. Get over it and move on."

He snorted at this but didn't reply.

"And fifth: you're rich. Your problems right now are really microscopic, if you ask me," said Aria, still gazing directly into his eyes so he would see how serious she was. "There are more things on this planet, bigger problems than you and I, than your room springing a leak. Think of the bigger picture, Kyoya. _Bigger picture…"_

She finished her little speech and he gazed at her for a long moment without even blinking. Both didn't say anything for a minute but finally, Kyoya sighed through his nose and averted his eyes away.

* * *

Normally, I don't think I would have let someone order me around like she had.

In fact, I know I wouldn't have. But the gentle insistency in her eyes was…more than enough to have me rethink my actions…and just sit down.

Then she went into speech mode and I surprised myself with being obedient and not commenting to much between it.

She…_unfortunately_…had a valid point.

Or many valid points, I should say. Although I _was_ extremely angry, shouting at people who had nothing to do with the incident downstairs wouldn't solve any of my problems and only worsen the rapport between the Ootori's and our private cruise ship and its crew; I know my father would not be pleased to hear that either. It was not as if anyone on the crew could have predict that a pipe would rupture and start jetting out water like monsoon rains from my ceiling…or that it would start to flood and leak into the room next to it as well. Well…maybe they would know, I'm sure they have advanced ways to find out if a pipe was weak…but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

Her reasoning and explanation, as well as her just rambling on long enough, was enough to have me calm down a bit and recollect my thoughts. I wouldn't dare say I wasn't still furious about the episode downstairs, but I wasn't blasting away at anyone either.

I was a bit remorseful for lashing out at her like I had…but she had taken it rather well…better than anyone has ever really taken my outburst., save for Tamaki. I'm surprised that she had the bravery to come and stop me at all; she knew that she was going to take misdirected rage from me…and yet she still risked it to ensure that I don't end up getting any employees fired and because she cared.

Aria was the first person that has been able to calm me down without having to fight me tooth and nail; that's where Tamaki failed.

I didn't even know it was possible for someone to just look me firmly in the eye and instantly bring me back down to a simmer when I was an exploding volcano already. Usually when I've hit that point, it was hard to get me to stop raging on.

After a few minutes of somewhat edgy silence, one with me sitting stiffly in my seat with my arms crossed and staring in front of me, she spoke up again.

"Better?" she asked cautiously, but making sure that she spoke in a generally warmer tone so I wouldn't snap at her like I already had.

I glanced at her inquisitive emerald eyes.

"I suppose so," I said, surprisingly light. I think my tone caught her off guard as well; she was not expecting me to have been pacified so easily and rapidly.

She didn't reply…looking almost dumbfounded with her luck.

"I'd still like to speak with the concierge though, just to notify someone about the incident, at the very least," I continued, rising to a stand. I smoothed my dinner jacket over for a moment before I offered my hand to her, which she took hesitantly.

"As long as you don't lash out at them," Aria said warningly.

I couldn't help but smile wryly at her. "I won't."

Clearly she didn't realize the miracle she practically performed on me just now.

I don't think anyone would quite understand why I was so…_attached…_to her unless they were to see everything through my eyes. I'm sure anyone would think that I'm making Aria out to be this perfect girl with perfect qualities and beauty.

_I'm not._

To be honest, she is incredibly imperfect…and I don't mind, because she _isn't_ perfect, as she so often reminds me.

Her obstinacy speaks for itself…and it has a way of pissing me off rather quickly but I liked that trait in her. Aria would be stubborn about the strangest things, things that pertained to morality and honesty.

Anyways, after everything was all said and done, my room was drained and they turned off the pipes. I had spoken to someone about the incident at the concierge desk, all while Aria's watchful eye was upon me, making sure I wasn't going to start pointing fingers and blaming people unnecessarily.

I didn't, just like I said I would.

Kaoru and I were apologized to profusely, to which I waved them off indifferently, now that I was no longer angry with the situation.

Aria had put it into perspective for me; there were much bigger issues in the world, or even just in my own life, to be concerned about…but my room flooding was not one of them.

The only thing salvageable was my soaked clothing. I guess the pipes from the bathroom burst as well, so water had been cascading down the stairs too. I wanted to ask…or demand would be a better word…how they failed to check their pipes for any malfunctions or faulty systems, whatever it would be…but again, Aria was making sure I remained calm.

My clothes were taken to the dry cleaners up on the promenade deck; there was a store that sold tuxes and offered dry cleaning. They told me that my clothes will be waiting for me in the morning outside Tamaki's room.

Kaoru managed to save all this belongings and get them into Hikaru's room. He told me he didn't mind sharing a room with his twin, which made sense because they slept together anyways. I always vaguely wondered why they hadn't outgrown that phase.

Tamaki eagerly offered to share his room with me, which I begrudgingly agreed to. The group all bade each other a good-night, employees working diligently to get my room cleaned and fixed.

Aria hesitated with her good-bye, unsure is she should give me any sort of gesture, which I'm guessing was an embrace. However, she thought better of it, especially in front of everyone else, and went inside her bedroom…not without casting me a smile.

Tamaki was ecstatic about me staying in his room for the next few days; I'm hoping the crew will be able to fix any problems inside my room within 48 hours…because I do _not _want to be stuck rooming with Tamaki for another ten days. The only problem I have is that Tamaki just doesn't know how to shut up when I want to fall asleep. He'll keep talking until he talks himself to sleep.

Thankfully, Tamaki had some extra sleeping attire so I changed into one of his blue sleeveless shirts and some gym shorts.

At that moment, I would have pulled out my laptop and began working diligently on the Host Club's budget or activities…but obviously, I was without my laptop…. So, I sat on the right hand side of the large bed and reached for the remote.

"You can just tell me, Kyoya," said Tamaki, coming out of the bathroom, rubbing a towel over his wet head; apparently the water was working for him.

"Jeezus, Tamaki, put some pants on or something," I said when I had glanced over at him. He was stark naked and I threw one of the small decorative pillows at him. He put on some underwear and some shorts before turning to me.

He had a serious look on his face; he actually meant business.

"What's wrong…daddy?" I asked in an amused tone, eyebrow raised and the slightest smirk at my lips.

"Just admit it." I guess he was in one of his serious moods.

I played ignorant. "I'm sorry but what are you talking about?"

Tamaki frowned somewhat at me. "Fine," he said in a lofty tone. "It's as clear as day that you like Aria. Why do you pretend that you don't?"

"I'm not pretending," I answered honestly. "Aria is very well aware of the way I feel for her."

"_Hah!" _he shouted triumphantly and pointing at me. "So you admit it then?"

"Admit what:?"

"That you _like _her!" he cried, exasperated.

I held down my need to smirk yet again. "I never said that," I replied innocently. "I said she is well aware of how I feel for her. That doesn't necessarily mean that I admitted to liking her. It could mean other various things."

I was too entertained with the way Tamaki's face scrunched up in aggravation with me because I was dancing around his question.

"Kyoya! Just admit it!" he shouted in one of his signature Tamaki tantrums. "You know you do but you just don't want to say it! Why do you do this to me, Kyoya? It just isn't fair for mommy to keep hiding this from daddy!"

I rubbed my right temple as he continued to rant on at the top of his lungs, as well as practically run around the loft area in his frenzy. I'm fairly sure he said my name about ten times too, as he usually does when throwing his fits.

After about two minutes or so, I tuned him out but continued to stare at him so he thought I was paying attention. In reality, I was wondering idly if Aria would be up late tonight or if she was going to head to bed early. After thinking this, I glanced at the clock on Tamaki's nightstand when his back was turned to me. It was ten forty-five; she normally doesn't head to bed for at least another hour.

Finally, Tamaki stopped, his chest heaving.

I pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose and smiled blandly at him. "Yes, I like her. Satisfied?"

First, he just stared blankly at my blatant honesty…but then his face held another grin of triumph.

"It's obvious that she feels the same for you," he said after a moment. "When are-?"

"Much like it's obvious that you and Haruhi have some sort of attraction for each other," I cut in nonchalantly. Tamaki's pale face went redder than a tomato in barely three seconds.

"Am I correct?" I pressed artlessly.

Tamaki wrenched the covers up across the bed. "I'm going to bed!" he said quickly, clapping his hands twice to turn off the lights. "Night, Kyoya!"

I sat there in the semi-darkness, staring at his back, which was at least three feet away for the bed was quite large, smiling in my own triumph over him.

It didn't take long for him to actually fall asleep, which I knew would happen. Once Tamaki has a moment to relax, he basically becomes a rock. Tamaki was never a night owl anyways.

After a few minutes of listening to his even breathing, I stood up and went downstairs. I wasn't sure if she was going to be up but I decided I'd go and see anyways. I wasn't remotely tired.

I knocked on her door and she came to open it rather quickly. She did not look all that surprised to find me standing at her doorway at fifteen minutes after eleven. In fact, I'm fairly sure she thought he would have turned up sooner.

"Is he already bugging you?" she asked in a playful tone, letting me through to her room.

"Yes, as he always does…but he fell asleep," I replied, standing by the counter where the flowers I sent her were. I didn't know what she had been doing previously so I didn't wan to sit down until she did.

Aria chuckled lightly and went to the balcony, where the sliding glass door was open. I guess she had been lying on one of the two daybeds that the balcony held, gazing at the stars. That seemed typical of her but I went to join her, sitting down on the other daybed.

We didn't say anything for a while.

For once, I didn't have my mind on anything. I just laid there, next to her, listening to the wind and the water below. It was nice to not have to think about anything like budget work, or planning out the day's events to keep everyone entertained, or about my family's dealings with other companies. I usually was connected to some form of technology, be it my cell phone or laptop. At the moment, one had been destroyed and the other I left in the room with Tamaki.

Something soft brushed up my hand after a moment, which was hanging over the arm rest lazily. Curious, I looked over and realized that Aria had taken a hold of my hand. I let my eyes wander up to her face…. She glanced at me with a sheepish smile but didn't say anything. Maybe she was a little embarrassed for being forward but I didn't mind.

"Why a doctor?" I asked. It was the first think that came to mind to talk about. I didn't actually know the answer to this…nothing in the research I had initially done on her had mentioned a reasoning.

She didn't answer immediately so I wondered if she had even heard me. I was on the verge of repeating myself but she answered in a soft tone.

"I want to end people's pain…"

I watched her stare up at the twinkling stars, her eyes almost glassy. I didn't reply but she didn't look like she thought I was going to anyway.

"There was this girl I was best friends with when I was in sixth grade," she said, her voice low and somber. "She had been in my class since the second grade and we had been close…. Her name was Angel. She was so pretty and her name fit her perfectly…she had beautiful white blonde hair…and these dark blue eyes. I was always envious of how pretty she was…I always wanted to be like her…and not just because she was beautiful…but she was truly beautiful inside too. For how young we were, she was always so wise and so caring. People would say that I'm making her up entirely…but she was…so mature for her age. She cared about everything…every living creature and she was kind. Angel gave a lot to the other kids and school…and for all those reasons, I wanted to be like her."

The idea of Aria wanting to be someone else completely perplexed me. That seemed so uncharacteristic of her.

"She found she had rapidly progressing leukemia when we got into the seventh grade," Aria continued on, "…and her parents put her through chemotherapy. Angel started missing school…sometimes she'd miss weeks and every time she would come back, she had less and less hair. She was throwing up a lot too; I remember taking her to the nurse's office a lot, sometimes even carrying her because she was too weak."

"She was dying. We were thirteen…and she knew that she was going to die soon."

Empathy settled within my chest, which is a very rare thing for me to feel. I could see the tears well up in her eyes but they refused to fall down her face. It had only been three years ago for her when her friend developed cancer.

She didn't want to meet my gaze and I understood that but she tightened her grip on my hand for a moment. I could tell she was trying to speak but she couldn't find her voice.

Aria sort of laughed suddenly, which caught me off guard.

"Angel was always smiling though…" said Aria with a smile, her tears flowing freely now. "She never complained about the pain…never was angry that she hadn't had enough time to live. Nothing. Despite all of that heartache, she would call me everyday, no matter what, and be laughing about something she thought was funny. No matter how terrible she felt, she still managed to always keep her beautiful smile on her face.

"She passed away a year after she was diagnosed. I had just turned thirteen a few days before. I saw her on my birthday…that's all I wanted. I went to visit her and I brought a cake and everything so we could share it. For my wish, I wished she would be able to survive the cancer…because the world needed people like her to be alive.

"But she didn't make it…and the last thing Angel told me was that 'love holds things together…it makes even the ugliest of things beautiful and the worst of sins forgivable. Love lives in families…love lives in friendship…but most of all, love lives in _you, _Aria. Remember that.' I was thirteen…I didn't quite understand what she was saying…we were young…I mean, I'm still young. I'm only sixteen.

"But her wisdom was that of someone who has been alive for many years…so sometimes I wonder…"

She faded off, the tears still flowing fast across her cheeks.

"…if Angel was really an angel," I finished for her. Aria finally looked over at me, her green eyes piercing into me. She was surprised I was able to finish her sentence and I could see that she was having a hard time holding it together. After a second, she moved over to my daybed so she could cry into my shoulder while I held her tight.

I had no idea.

She obviously hadn't talked much about the incident since it happened, which explains why she was so distraught over it. That aside…it wasn't that long ago.

But it made sense to me about why she wanted to be a doctor. Somehow, she had it in her head that maybe…she could have saved Angel…somehow it was her fault, because in traumatic events like that, people tend to blame themselves. Therefore, she thought that becoming a doctor could redeem herself.

I held her close…feeling my heart literally ache for her pain. I've never felt something like that before…not for anyone. I've always been so apathetic towards anyone's pain…towards anyone's suffering or troubles. But I'd give anything to have Aria stop crying. It was like a jagged knife cutting through my flesh to hear her cry.

But what could I really say to soothe her? I didn't feel like there was anything to say…but only to be there for her. It seemed to suffice for her, because she was holding onto me tight as she sobbed into my shirt.

It's strange that I'm witnessing her cry. I always thought she wouldn't have allowed herself to look so "weak" in front of me. Aria had fought the tears in the beginning, but she gave up quickly.

Her being able to cry so openly was because she was comfortable with me, which is all that mattered. She didn't feel she had to hold up to an image.

She cried herself to sleep.

After a moment of making sure that she was in fact asleep, I stood up with her in my arms and took her inside. I walked carefully up the stairs and put her in the bed carefully. She was exhausted, that was clear enough as I placed the sheets on top of her.

I gazed down at her for a minute, a smile tugging at my lips.

Upon coming to her room, I didn't think that we would have moment where we ended up wordlessly bonding with one another. I felt closer to her…and I felt like I knew something more real about her than ever.

I couldn't help myself but I leaned over and kissed her gently on the forehead before turning to leave. I didn't want to…but I wouldn't dare spend the night with her after so little time of being together. It would raise far too many questions with the others anyway.

I wondered vaguely to myself as I went down the stairs if Angel in fact…was an angel….


	20. The Hike

**Author's note: Hello hello hello! Next chapterrrr! See, I was more timely with this one! :) Sorry, to be honest, I feel like this chapter is slightly lacking...I can't place my finger on it but I do apologize. ^_^ Please enjoy it, it's a Kaoru chapter, for all you Hitachiin brother fans out there. Welp, gots to go! If you feel so inclined, perty please review, it'd mean so much to me! **

**I don't own anything OHSHC, just my plot and OCs.**

Chapter Twenty: The Hike

Aria's alarm woke her up at seven fifteen the next morning. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to find herself tucked in her bed, having remembered that she had been outside on the balcony with Kyoya the last time she checked. As she sat up, confused, last night flooded her mind.

She internally cringed; she was embarrassed that she had cried so hard like that in front of someone…Kyoya, no less. Actually, she was embarrassed even to cry at all in front of him.

But he had been surprisingly sympathetic, holding her close to him while she had sobbed her heart out. The thought of her crying would have repulsed him before and he would have immediately disengaged from the situation entirely…. She knew that Kyoya wasn't _incapable _of such intimacy…she just figured it wasn't something he was going to be so comfortable with. Aria wasn't quite sure what had changed in him, in such a short amount of time, but she steadily liked him more and more.

She had never told anyone other than her family about Angel…but she never told anyone _ever _that Angel's death was the reason she put aside photography and wanted to become a doctor instead.

Aria rubbed her swollen eyes. _Greaaaaat, _she thought with a sigh. _The twins will have a field day with this. _

She pulled off the covers, mentally deciding that she would tell everyone she had an allergic reaction to something, and stood up. Aria stretched for a moment before heading to the bathroom to rinse off like she did every morning. She didn't notice until after she turned on the shower that there was a letter taped to the mirror. It was short from the looks of it.

A smile pulled across her lips when she recognized the writing and she pulled it off to read it.

_"Love holds things together…it makes even the ugliest of things beautiful and the worst of sins forgivable. Love lives in families…love lives in friendship…but most of all, love lives in you, Aria. Remember that."_

_Because of you, love lives in me too._

Aria's smile turned into a grin. The simplicity of the letter made the last line powerful, enough to cause her heart to stutter a few times.

She hurried through her daily morning routine and was ready to meet the other for breakfast by eight. Like every morning where they were docked, they usually made it out to the mainland around eight forty-five.

Kyoya had said the night before at dinner that they were going to go hiking and then deep sea diving so she dressed in some jeans and wore her Converse All Stars to protect her feet and have some sort of grip for the hike. They weren't much of hiking shoes, but her only other pair of shoes was some Vans, which were just as useless for a hike. After thinking it over if she should change shoes, she decided against it, feeling lazy because she had already took the time to tie her Converses, and she put her bathing suit, sunblock, and flip flops in her bag and made her way downstairs.

Before she opened the door to the hallway, where she could hear Tamaki talking to Haruhi and Kyoya, she slipped on her reflective aviator sunglasses to hide her swollen eyes from everyone; hopefully she was going to be able to save herself from humiliation for at least a little while. She also grabbed the flash drive Kyoya had given her a few days ago; she had loaded some edited videos of the Host Club and he wanted to upload them onto the Host Club's website.

Apparently, many of their customers have been sending the site a massive amount of emails pertaining to the upcoming picture book and videos; Kyoya had left a small message on the site about it, leaving the girls anxiously anticipating both. Kyoya had mentioned at dinner to her the night before…before the whole ordeal of the pipe rupture and her small crying episode…that the site was crashing because the girls were constantly on it, watching previous videos, looking at pictures, or buying off of the web store.

Aria put the flash drive in her pocket and stepped out into the hall. Only the Hitachiin brothers were missing. Honey was resting on Mori's shoulders, looking tired, as per usual. He always had a hard time getting up even slightly early.

Haruhi was idly chatting with Tamaki and Kyoya about hiking. From what little Aria heard, it seemed that Tamaki was extremely excited with the nature walk, especially since they would be seeing part of Joe's River. Aria just brushed it off as his overzealous attitude kicking up again about being overly excited for everything and stepped towards Honey and Mori. Honey instantly perked up at the sight of Aria approaching them.

Kyoya had let his gaze linger on her and she could see him smile very slightly, barely enough for her to even notice, before he returned his attention to Tamaki, who had asked if it was a guided hike or not, to which Kyoya replied that it was not led by a ranger or guide. Aria wasn't entirely sure because she got distracted with Honey, but she thought she heard Haruhi say something with a tone of slight apprehension.

"Good morning, Ari-chan!" said Honey brightly.

Aria grinned at him. "Morning!" she replied with the same amount of energy. Mori reached out and ruffled her hair in a brotherly fashion.

The two groups continued to casually talk for another few minutes before the twins finally came out of their rooms. After that, they all headed up for breakfast, quickly eating so they would make it on time to their destination on Barbados so they could begin their hike by nine-thirty, at the latest.

* * *

"Wow."

That was really all Aria could say about the scenery on their hike, having been about an hour into it. At first, they had started in some rolling hills of pale green grass, the clear blue sky above them, and the sun beating down on them gently. It was warm that day, but not hot enough to feel their skin burning or for them to start sweating already.

Now, they were in the forest region, tall palms and pure green flora was surrounding the hiking trail. They were climbing higher into the mountains; Aria noticed it when her thighs were burning from the uphill grade.

Kyoya and Tamaki were leading the way, Mori and Honey behind them, and the four first-years of the group in last.

As much as Haruhi wouldn't like to admit it, she was having a bit of trouble with the hike. It wasn't that she was being prissy or girly, but she wasn't quite use to this type of exercise, especially with how uneven the terrain was getting from the forest tree roots, dirt, rocks, and occasional mud.

"I was warned earlier that the area had a short but heavy downpour two days ago, so they said that some of the ground could be unstable or weak so watch your step," called Kyoya airily from the front, seemingly have no issues at all with the hike. "They also mentioned that we should stay from any cliffs because they have a high chance of giving way under our weight, which will result in a fatal fall."

"Lovely," said Aria sarcastically, more to herself.

Haruhi snorted. "So much for that 'relaxing' part of this hike," she said to her, slightly short of breath. Aria laughed quietly.

"I don't really think we're relaxing much anyways," she said quietly to Haruhi, noticing her face beginning to glisten with sweat. Haruhi agreed with a half smile.

Aria had been diligently taking pictures of the Host Club, occasionally asking one or more of them to stop against a pretty backdrop of landscape so she could snap a few. She also took some time to video as well; whenever she'd start recording, the Host Club would go about its business, acting all regal in front of the camera. Aria couldn't help but laugh because off camera, they weren't as sophisticated and high class as those girls back at school thought.

_It must be weird to constantly have to live behind a façade like that, _she thought idly, filming some of the river below them. But she knew they chose it willingly…well, Haruhi aside.

Honey had climbed a couple trees, having gained all his energy back from breakfast. Mori was talking more than usual today, mainly because he was constantly telling Honey to be careful, or to not touch a certain plant, or not to eat the berries off the bushes, or to stay away from the cliff areas.

The twins were just as rambunctious; Aria figured they were really bored with the whole hiking/scenery bit.

"You know, when you two host girls at school, you go on and on and on about how much you _love_ beautiful scenery," said Aria, eyebrow raised. "What happened to that?"

They made a face that resembled disgust.

"Obviously that's all part of our act," they said, both adding a short laugh while they kept walking alongside her.

She rolled her eyes. "That's nice guys," she replied, "so basically…you're lying."

"Not lying," said Hikaru, placing his arm around her on her left.

Kaoru put his arm around her from the right. "Just bending the truth."

Aria rolled her eyes. "Right. Lying."

The three of them continued to playfully bicker about the meaning of lying while they continued to walk. Aria wouldn't have it; she was telling them that they constantly are telling lies, even if they are small ones.

"Everything we have ever said has never been a lie-"

"Bullshit!" laughed Aria, cutting them off.

The twins bounded in front of her and stopped, causing her to stop as well. "-because there is always at least partial truth in anything we state," they said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Aria shook her head, unconvinced. "I'm sure," she replied sarcastically. She put both her hands out and separated them so she could pass through them.

About a half an hour later, they all stopped for a rest and a drink of water from the water bottles they had brought. Haruhi sat heavily onto a fallen tree with a huge huff, the twins joining her, now feeling it was their most opportune moment to harass her.

Tamaki was chatting idly with Honey, since Honey had asked where the trail leads to; Aria vaguely heard him say something about it following the river.

Kyoya was a little further up the trail, standing alone and staring up at the canopy of tree branches. Aria thought about going over to talk to him but instead, she decided to go explore the area a little.

She wasn't sure if anyone noticed but she stepped off the trail onto a smaller path on her right leading through the trees. Aria figured it was safe to follow since it was technically another trail, despite the fact that the vegetation was thick around it.

Aria pushed her way through the foliage, hearing the subtle sound of white noise. She wondered what it was and pressed forward at a quicker pace.

The small trail led her to a high cliff overlooking a waterfall on her left, and the river continued not too far below of clear water. It wasn't necessarily a dangerous fall from this height mainly because the dirt leading down to the river was still soft from the previous rain.

She inched her way forward, testing the ground to make sure it wasn't loose and about to give way. Aria wanted a better look at the water because the trees were blocking most of her view.

Once she was safely near the edge, she pulled out her camera out of her pocket. After she took about a dozen different pictures, she turned it off and let it hand on her wrist while reached for her video camera that was around her neck for safe keeping.

"Didn't Kyoya-senpai say to stay away from the cliffs?" said a voice behind her while something touching her upper arm.

She leapt up in fright and turned around to find Kaoru gently gripping her arm. It was clear that he was worried that she may fall because she was so close to the edge; there was a slight tug from him in his direction.

"Kaoru-kun, you scared me," Aria breathed. "You've got to stop doing that."

He sort of smiled. "Sorry."

Aria turned back to the view. "Kyoya-senpai technically _did _say to avoid the cliff areas but we're fine," she said in a pleasant voice.

Kaoru frowned behind her. "Well, I think we are about to leave, so we should go back," he urged, trying to keep his concern relatively unnoticeable.

She glanced at him. "Hold up, let me just film a little."

Aria pressed record and panned at the view. "This is Barbados and one of its rivers. Sadly, I forgot the name of it," she said, showing the semi-quick paced river below them and the waterfall. She turned around to show Kaoru. "Aaaand this is Kaoru Hitachiin, who is looking very handsome this find morning."

He didn't look amused; in fact, he looked increasingly apprehensive.

"Aria…" he began slowly. "We should go. Seriously."

She laughed, still recording. "Quit being so worried!"

Aria took a step backward, showing him that the ground was fine…but her foot sank too deep in the soft dirt. With a huge jerk, the ground beneath them crumbled, making them both lose their footing.

* * *

I pulled out of my blank state of mind and checked my watch. We were a little over the fifteen minute break I had let everyone take. It wasn't a big deal; I'm sure everyone appreciated the moment to take a breather anyways.

I turned around and immediately noticed something different.

Aria and Kaoru were missing. I was surprised that Hikaru didn't notice…but he was busy chatting away with Haruhi and Tamaki.

I approached the group, not really that concerned that they were gone, thinking that someone had seen them walk off. Knowing Aria, she went to look around and Kaoru probably went to go get her.

"Have you seen Aria and Kaoru?" I asked. Everyone stopped talking and looked around, confused.

It was clear by the look on their faces that they haven't seen them…that did cause me to be a little more worried.

"I don't know, I didn't see them when they left," said Haruhi.

Hikaru looked the most worried. "Kaoru was just with me a second ago, I swear!" he added, his voice riding on the edge of shakiness.

"Do you think we should wait for-?"

A pair of screams cut off Tamaki; one stopped my heart cold.

Everyone was frozen on the spot because one scream had been an ear-splitting shriek. I couldn't bring myself to speak but I ran into the trees on my left where the noises came from.

Automatically, the rest of the group followed me. Running at a full sprint through the trees and thick, green brush proved difficult but I came to a small clearing.

The ground stopped suddenly, creating a drop-off. Tamaki caught me by the arm just in time before I went flying head first into the river below.

There was dirt still tumbling down the steep incline and the evidence was too great to deny that the ground had just given way moments before.

We all knew what had just happened…but none of us could bring ourselves to say it.

"Look!" said Honey-senpai, laying down on the ground and reaching over the cliff for something. I could see a small part of what he was trying to get; it was resting between a spot in the cliff where the dirt hadn't given way.

"Mitsukuni, be careful!" warned Mori-senpai, clearly worried himself. Honey-senpai then stood up and showed the rest of us what he found.

It was Aria's camera.

I shut my eyes and breathed in as calmly as I could so I wouldn't explode. I wasn't even sure if I could describe the degree of anxiety I was feeling.

"Kaoru!" Hikaru shouted, his hands cupped over his mouth. _"Kaoru!"_

His frantic calls for his brother brought about the rest of the group shouting for him and Aria…but I couldn't find it in me to speak a word. I was still just trying to keep it together inside me.

"Aria!" Haruhi was screaming, looking just as scared as I was feeling. I've never seen her this way.

I felt like the world was suddenly going incredibly slow around me…like I was moving at a faster speed than everyone else. I could barely hear anything and I wasn't really sure what I was thinking.

_Pull yourself together, _I told myself harshly. I've always remained calm in all situations. This should be no different.

Despite the fact that Aria could be hurt…_severely _hurt…or worse-

No, I won't even think that. I glanced down at the drop-off; the fall wasn't that far down and the river, though a little turbulent, seemed deep enough for Aria and Kaoru to escape relatively unscathed.

I shook my head to get my senses together.

The group continued to look down into the water or around the area, shouting for Aria and Kaoru.

I pulled out my cell phone and quickly dialed a number I memorized earlier that morning. On the second ring, a man's voice answered and told him the situation calmly…though it was proving very difficult to keep myself together.

Tamaki looked at me with a blank look but I could tell that he was extremely worried. "Who was that?"

I inhaled before speaking, the rest of the group looking at me expectantly.

"Rangers are coming to rescue them."

* * *

_It was dark._

_I wasn't really sure where I was or what was going on, to be honest. My body felt really heavy, like I was made of lead or something._

_As hard as I tried, I couldn't move and I was numb. I couldn't hear anything either, which is weird and a little frustrating because I was basically lifeless._

_Maybe I was dead? Or something…_

_I found that amusing, for some reason…but then I realized that death isn't something to be amused about, especially if it's _my _death._

_There was a blast of excruciating pain in my chest. Well, that was positive. At least I could feel something, although I don't really want to feel that again._

_Nope, spoke too soon._

_The same agonizing pain shot through me again, but it didn't just linger in my chest…it started radiating out through the rest of my body. _

_It kept happening at regular intervals…and I began to realize that my hearing was steadily coming back. My awareness began to broaden…but I was still confused._

"_Aria!" someone was saying anxiously, though it was still a bit muffled out. "Aria, stay with me!"_

_Feeling began to come back to me; I felt my fingers twitch._

_There was heavy pressure being applied to my chest. It wasn't one long push down on me, but three hard presses right around my diaphragm._

"_Aria," the voice kept saying, growing steadily clearer. "Don't leave me! C'mon! You can pull through this."_

_Something soft kept touching my lips after the pressure at my chest. It had a weird after effect, leaving my lips tingling, which I liked enough to the point that I would tolerate the pain just to feel it again._

_Speaking of the pain in my chest, it was growing slowly less unbearable with each applied pressure only to bring about the gentle touch on my lips._

_There was now a weird sensation of air being forced into my lungs, which was now making it painful again, even though no pressure was on my chest. I was growing confused as to why it was happening and why I still couldn't move._

_Then it dawned on me on what was occurring._

_Kaoru was doing CPR on me…and that "something soft" was his lips on mine…._

_Repeatedly._

_This could cause a major problem. I don't know if Kyoya would happy to know that Kaoru is saving my life by "kissing" me or if he wouldn't care. I felt terrible now…because I had _liked _the touch of Kaoru's lips on my own. Why exactly am I concerned about that right now?_

_I wondered how I even got into this situation._

_With a little thought, I remembered. I had been careless about my safety…and I hence, I put Kaoru in danger too. I should've listened to him and Kyoya about staying away from the cliffs._

_But I had been far too confident and that pride just got us into a huge mess. What the hell is the matter with me? _

* * *

Kaoru was beginning to lose hope; Aria wasn't breathing at all.

He had continuously performed CPR on her on the banks of the river but to no avail. He could feel the tears beginning to sting his eyes, fearing the worst.

Aria had hit her head on something, mostly likely on a large rock at the bottom of the river; her left temple was bleeding, but not enough for her to die from it.

But it had knocked her unconscious, which caused her to start drowning in the river, which had swept the quickly away from the place that they fell from. Kaoru, not that he had time to look, had no idea where they were and just how far down the river they went before he was able to pull Aria to safety.

Upon getting her out of the water, he had realized she wasn't breathing. Moving quickly, he wrenched the video camera that was still miraculously around her neck off her and began doing CPR.

"Aria, _please!" _Kaoru shouted, pushing down three times on her diaphragm in quick succession.

With a choking gasp, she jerked to life. Aria rolled to her side and coughed out the rest of the water that had been her lungs.

Relief washed over Kaoru and he cried out her name, helping her sit up so she could breathe.

Aria's lungs burned from the air as she breathed in rasping breaths, lying on her back again. She coughed occasionally and kept her eyes closed, trying to regain some of her strength.

Neither said anything for a long time while Aria's breathing started to become even.

It was an interesting situation that they were in…but all Kaoru was concerned about was Aria. More than likely, she had a minor concussion. He figured Kyoya would have already sent help by now to come and rescue him and Aria, which was why he was more so worried about Aria's health than where they were. But she seemed fine…at least so far.

Aria finally opened her eyes and found Kaoru gazing down at her with deep concern. He had a cut across his right cheek and a few others across his arms. Aria was fairly sure a bruise was coming in around his chin too. He was pretty beaten up.

She broke out with a smile.

"Thank you," Aria said, her voice a little low. Kaoru looked away for a second before returning her smile. She wasn't fairing very well either, a gash at her temple, cuts and bruises riddling her arms and legs…her tank top was a little torn up too.

He didn't really know what to say because he felt like "you're welcome" wasn't something appropriate.

"You okay?" he asked finally.

She couldn't help but laugh. "Uh," she replied lamely, "yeah. Banged up but fine."

Kaoru smirked, the relief having not left him. He decidedly laid down on her right, feeling exhausted now that the trauma is over.

"I _did _warn you," said Kaoru semi-darkly. Aria felt guilt rise in her throat; she decidedly remained quiet at this.

Aria turned her head to the left, something bright catching her eye.

The video camera was facing her…she was surprised it had even made it this far, seeing that she lost her camera in the fall.

She sat up slowly and reached for it.

"Good thing this thing is waterproof," she said opening up the screen. "Holy hell, it's still recording."

"What?" said Kaoru from the ground in surprise. "You're joking."

"No, it's been on this whole time…shit, I wonder what it caught…" she said, glancing at him.

Aria pressed the recording button to stop it from recording. After a moment, she looked around at their surroundings.

"Where are we?" she said.

"Do I look like a GPS system to you?" said Kaoru, his tone mostly playful, but there was a twinge of bitterness that Aria picked up…but she still laughed.

She laid back down, too beat up to even stand.

"What the hell are we going to do?"

Kaoru shut his eyes. "I don't want to move, honestly…but I'm pretty sure we are far down the river…. The current was stronger than it looks."

Aria agreed mentally and turned her head to look at him. "You don't seem that concerned," she noted. "Has it not registered that we are lost in the wilderness with no way to communicate with the others?"

Kaoru cracked open an eye to look at her. "We're on an island…we can't be that hard to find."

He had a point.

"Don't worry…they'll find us," he added reassuringly, closing his eyes again.

Aria hoped he was right but she was really too tired to keep thinking. In fact, with the sun beating on her and with Kaoru lying next to her…she could fall asleep…


	21. Maturity

**Author's Note: Hey howdy hey! Here's the newest chapter for everyone. ^_^ As you may recall, Aria fell down a cliff and took Kaoru with her. And Kyoya is freaking out...well in his own way. Also, the video camera IS important...but not brought up much in this chapter. That's all I can say. Umm, it's coming down to the wire...I mean, I'm sure it's clear about what is happening but still, we do like be on our toes, dont we! Please enjoy and review, bash, criticize...blah blah you know the drill!**

**I love all your reviews and loyal readers. You guys continue to help me stay on track with writing. **

**I don't own anything OHSHC. Just my OCs and plot line.**

Chapter Twenty-one: Maturity

Kaoru opened his eyes slowly.

The sun was directly above him, shining brightly so it caused him to squint so his eyes could readjust. He didn't think he had been asleep for very long, maybe an hour or so. Judging by the sun's position, it was probably around twelve or one o'clock.

He didn't move for a while, just staring up at the sky above him, letting the hot sun blaze down on him, already sweating. Kaoru wondered vaguely why they hadn't been rescued yet. It was a relatively small island, especially because search parties would be searching in one general area.

_You think we would've been found already, _he thought idly.

His body ached everywhere as he attempted to sit up. Once in an upright position, he looked over to his left, finding Aria asleep beside him. Dry blood was sticking to her skin on her face and there were bruises coming in all over her. Aside all that, she still was very pretty to him…her peaceful look on her face was as beautiful as any.

He couldn't help but gaze at her for a long time. There was a small strand of hair that had fallen across her face and Kaoru automatically reached out to push it aside.

At his touch, she stirred for a second.

However, she didn't wake up. He rolled his eyes, amused because she reminded him of a little kid while sleeping, when they caught sight of the video camera lying next to her. He involuntarily cringed.

Aria had said before they passed out that the video camera had recorded everything from when she first pressed the record button before their fall. That meant that, though it may not have caught him performing CPR on her, it _did _catch him with other things.

Kaoru hoped, no _prayed,_ that the footage was damaged somehow…because he wasn't sure Aria would like what she would hear. He tried to make himself feel better by rationalizing everything in his head for a moment…but he still felt a little embarrassed.

Not only that, he was worried if someone other than Aria were to get a hold of the camera…especially Kyoya since he was the one that gave it to her. He was bound to see the footage. The thought made Kaoru's stomach clench very painfully because he knew that Kyoya was probably going to have a problem with him.

The last thing Kaoru wanted was to cause drama between the group.

Kaoru decidedly stopped thinking of it and turned to Aria again. He paused as he reached out to touch her. He didn't want to wake her but he really felt like they should be on the move since they hadn't been rescued yet.

"Aria," he said, barely above the din of the river rushing behind him. Kaoru touched her arm and very gently shook her. Again, she stirred.

Her eyelashes fluttered, almost like butterfly wings, before she woke up, her emerald eyes looking up at him with vague confusion. She looked around him for a moment before she sat up slowly.

Aria involuntarily gasped in minor pain, feeling very stiff now.

"We should get moving…" he said gently. She furrowed her eyebrows and Kaoru chuckled. He wouldn't lie, he loved that look on her face.

"They haven't found us yet?" she asked, knowing the answer because it was already clear.

Kaoru shook his head and stood up. It took him longer than normal because he was achy. "No, I'm surprised they haven't."

He held out a hand for her. Aria took it and he pulled her up to a stand as well . It was a little bit of a struggle for her, because she was so sore. Once to a stand, she put the video camera around her neck again, checking the lanyard to make sure it wouldn't snap.

"I think we should try to find the trail again," he said, looking out over the river.

"The trail up there…?" Aria asked, pointing.

Kaoru followed her arm and saw that she was indicating across the river and above them. She was pointing at the top of the cliff on the left side of the river where they had fallen a few miles up, the opposite side of where they were now.

"I don't see anything."

"I heard Tamaki-senpai say that the trail follows the river the majority of the way," she explained. "More than likely, the trail is up there…maybe not right near the edge but somewhat close to it. So, if we can find a way to get up there, then we can follow the trail to the end where the others might be."

Kaoru scanned the cliffs on their side of the river and the opposite side.

"It's all too steep to climb," he said, sounding a little put out, still looking around in case he missed something. "We'll have to find a way around it."

"Honestly, even it wasn't as steep, I don't think I'd be able to climb it," Aria replied, rubbing her shoulder tenderly. Kaoru gave her a concerned look but she waved him off dismissively. "I'm fine. I just have a headache."

He knew her better than that to believe her but he didn't press it.

"We're going to need to cross the river eventually," Kaoru said, gazing out at the wide, turbulent river.

Aria frowned. "I'm not about to swim across that thing," she replied seriously.

"I know," he said, glancing at her. "Maybe down stream there will be a spot where it's shallow or calm and we'll be able to cross it there."

She agreed, knowing that was their best way to get across.

They continued to discuss it a little more on what their next plan of action was. They decided to just walk the river along the bank to see if they could find a way to get back to the trail or if they could find the outlet to the ocean and then find someone along the beaches to contact the others.

Kaoru seemed a lot more serious than he normally behaved. Even in a situation like this, Aria figured he would have found a place to playfully crack a joke at her to relieve some of the tension. She wasn't quite sure why he was acting so…dare she think it…_mature. _He seemed like he had everything relatively under control, which was very atypical of him.

And so they walked.

At first, it was rather silent between them. Aria wasn't sure why, but there was a very strange vibe between them, one that Aria didn't like. It was a mixture of awkwardness and tension, more so awkwardness. In the beginning, they had been walking side by side but as they continued on, Kaoru seemingly hurried ahead of her, making Aria feel a little shut out. Kaoru also was very short when Aria asked him a couple questions, which basically gave him away that something was bothering him.

Aria didn't know if it was just general worry at the fact that they were stranded in the wilderness, awaiting rescue, or if it was something else. Maybe he was really concerned about Hikaru, since they are very rarely separated from each other and she knew that Hikaru would be freaking out right now.

They continued to trek on in their uncomfortable silence across the bank of the river. Kaoru had no problem with the terrain but Aria more or less had a limp because her left ankle may be strained. Along the way, Aria had to stop for a minute to splash water on her to keep herself cool and so she would pass out from a heatstroke but he barely made an effort to wait for him. In fact, Kaoru remained quiet through it all for at least a good twenty minutes.

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore; she hated feeling like this with him. It just wasn't the relationship that they had.

Aria opened her mouth to speak. "Kao-"

"What does he have that I don't…?" Kaoru said from a six feet in front of her.

She blinked, confused as she followed behind him. The tone he had used was clear; he was irritated. Aria might as well have called it because she _knew_ something was wrong with him.

But the question itself caught her off guard.

"I'm sorry…what?" was all she could force herself to say, staring at the back of his head in bewilderment.

Kaoru didn't stop walking nor turn around to look at her. "I was just wondering what it is that Kyoya-senpai has that I don't…that's all," he replied, masking his biting tone. Aria looked down at her feet to watch where she was stepping, since they were at a rather rocky part of the river.

It took her a moment to answer him. "You wanna talk about this right _now, _of all times-?"

"Yes, I do…because he isn't here," he cut in, walking through the terrain easily, leaving her trailing behind. "It's just a simple question. It shouldn't be hard to answer."

Aria couldn't help but feel a little anger rise in her chest at his cold attitude and she finally stopped walking in her frustration with him. His behavior was the complete opposite of how he normally acted and it didn't sit well with her.

"We _talked _about this, Kaoru," she snapped, dropping the sentimental honorific. He froze when he heard it. "And if I remember correctly, _you're_ the one who came to me first because I never brought it up. You told me that you weren't about to wait around for me…and I never had the intention of asking you to, you _know _that-"

She stopped speaking when he turned abruptly to face her, his eyes dark. Aria had never expected to see Kaoru angry with her, especially over something like this.

"You still haven't answered the question."

Aria's hands began to shake, trying to remain relatively under control with her anger but for whatever reason, Kaoru's bitter tone and hard glare was more biting than anyone else's.

"I don't know!" she burst out. "Why the hell is it so important to you anyway?"

Kaoru's gaze went colder. "You don't even know why you like him?"

She threw up her hands and turned her back on him while making an exasperated noise. "Good god," she growled under her breath, putting a hand to her forehead and shaking her head bitterly. This wasn't like Kaoru at all. She didn't even know him…or at least she felt like she didn't. To see him instigate a fight…a _real _fight, not one of those playful teasing banters…with her no less, was unlike him.

And it didn't make sense why he decided that he was okay with the fact that she liked Kyoya not a few days ago…and then do a complete one eighty on her and start asking personal questions about her and Kyoya's relationship.

This was beneath Kaoru….

He pressed on, with anger steadily becoming more prevalent in his voice. "If you don't even know why you like him, then what's the point of liking him, Aria? Tell me that. What is it? Is it because he's wealthy…wealthier than me? Or because he is incredibly good-looking-?"

"Oh, shut up!" Aria spat, turning back to glare at him. "How dare you even suggest that! You should know me well enough to know that none of that shit matters to me. I could care _less_ about wealth or looks."

"Then what the hell is it?"

She clenched her fists it took her a moment to answer because she was trying to hold in most of her rage.

"_It's maturity!" _she shouted fiercely. "I like the way he carries himself! And because Kyoya has drive. He has passion to be the best that he can be and he pushes himself to the limit. He's ambitious, hard-working, and honors family more than anything. Kyoya stands by his values. _That's _the answer…. _Satisfied?"_

Kaoru stared at her.

He felt the dig that she had made him, even though Kaoru was sure she did it unconsciously. But…she was right. Kaoru, unlike Kyoya, didn't exactly know where he wanted to end up. He had no plan, and he didn't have to. He was well taken care of since his mother was such a successful fashion designer. There was no pressure on him or Hikaru to take up their mother's business. He and Hikaru…were spoiled kids.

And that was Aria's point.

Kyoya had something to strive for…and that was to be the head of the Ootori group. The drive he had to better his brothers, to show his father that he was best suited for leading the family's corporation…attracted her because she herself had drive and ambition; it was common ground. Even though their similar qualities had the tendency to clash, the similarity was what eventually sparked attraction.

In a sense, Kaoru's lack of aspirations and virtually no plan for his life…basically made him undesirable in Aria's eyes…not as a friend…but as a lover.

Even though all that was true, it still stung Kaoru's pride. He couldn't help but feel angry at her…and at Kyoya.

"Maturity?" he scoffed. "That's just completely-"

"Stop it!" she interrupted him crossly. "Why are you picking a fight with me! Two days ago, you told me that you weren't going to wait for me! Two days ago you told me that this wasn't worth causing a rift between anyone in the Host Club. And two days ago, you used that stupid little _Twilight _analogy, saying you weren't going to be like Jacob Black. Those were _your _words, Kaoru! _Yours!"_

He had nothing to say when she stopped speaking but he continued to gaze at her with a hard expression. Aria glared back unblinkingly at him for a moment before continuing.

"You're supposed to be my support group…. We're best friends and it's been a long time since I've had a best friend. And best friends mean that you and I should be happy for each other, despite the decisions we make!" she explained, now in a more desperate tone. "I thought you were okay with this!"

"I thought I was too!" Kaoru yelled. "But I'm _not_!"

Kaoru turned away from her gaze and walked a little more down the river and then stopped again. He refused to look at her.

"Look, I wasn't trying to become between you and him, alright?" he said bitterly. "All I want is for you to be happy, that hasn't changed…but I doesn't mean I'm not pissed off about this! It doesn't mean that I'm not jealous as hell of Kyoya-senpai. It sucks being the other guy…"

Aria's heart ached….

She didn't want to lose Kaoru as a friend…not over something like this. However, she was beginning to understand that this situation gave her very few options. She was beginning to realize that she may have to choose between her friendship with Kaoru and her friendship but steadily growing relationship with Kyoya.

But at the same time, she was angry…angry that Kaoru was cornering her into a positions where she was going to have to choose. Kaoru would be the one to get hurt…just like he was now.

She couldn't have the best of both worlds, it seemed.

* * *

I sat as patiently as I could force myself to be in the small waiting room in a building sitting beside the helipad. At irregular intervals, I'd catch myself glancing at said helipad through the glass walls, hoping to see a black helicopter landing…as if I would not have heard it coming in.

The search and rescue team had taken three and half hours so far to find Aria and Kaoru. Clearly, they haven't been found because the team would have flown them in by now.

The others were also in the room. Honey-senpai was sitting in a chair, curled up in the fetal position with the beginnings of tears in his eyes. Mori-senpai was standing behind the chair, his somber expression only becoming more grave as time wore on. Haruhi was in a corner with Hikaru; he was having somewhat of a mental breakdown, never having been separated for this long from his twin without good reason.

At first, Haruhi tried to soothe Hikaru into a general sense of calm but it was only causing more negative effects than positive so she ceased. Now, they were sitting together in silence, Hikaru biting on his nails apprehensively. I'm honestly surprised that he hasn't just burst out the door and run into the forest to find his twin himself.

Tamaki was sitting in a chair as well, separated from everyone. He had a very serious expression on his face, one that not many see too often. He was deep in thought with his hands folded and covering his mouth. Even for me, it's a little strange still to see him this contemplative and it made me wonder what exactly he was thinking of. The worry in his eyes, however, was unmistakable.

I felt sick to my stomach. Luckily, I have trained myself to look outwardly unfazed about the passing events even though I'm as anxious as anyone else. The thought of Aria hurt was driving me to insanity. Never have I felt so stressed as I have now.

It seemed to be one mishap after another. First my room flooding and now this…well, that's only two instances but still…the time between them was very small.

And then I heard it.

The noise was faint at first, barely audible over the fan that was attempting to keep us cool. Instantly, I sat up, hoping it was the helicopter that it sounded like.

I wasn't the only one that heard it either. Honey-senpai had lifted his head off his knees and saw his eyes clear with realization.

"Takashi!" he hissed as he turned around. Mori-senpai nodded and I noticed that even his face was a little brighter.

Sure enough, the noise got louder and it sounded like propellers on a helicopter. My heart practically leapt out of my chest as we all stood up, waiting.

The black helicopter came into view and steadied itself to land; Hikaru and Honey-senpai were already making to the door once it did, the front of it facing us.

We saw a man jump out from our right side as the helicopter's propellers began to slow down because they had turned it off. He was looking into the cockpit and motioned for someone to jump out. A second later, Kaoru climbed out of the helicopter, looking around with a little confusion.

Hikaru practically broke the glass door down and bolted out to meet his brother. When Kaoru saw him, Hikaru was already half way to him. Kaoru immediately sprinted after his twin as well and collided with a huge embrace. The others started to follow, as well as I, and though I was very relieved to see Kaoru, I was still searching for Aria.

I exited the waiting room and watched the man hold a hand for someone else. From my angle, I only saw another hand take his just before legs came into view.

He helped Aria jump down to the asphalt and she saw all of us coming towards her. I felt relief wash over me, like a dam had broken in my brain. Aria broke into a grin at the sight of us, which caught me off guard for a moment, surprised that she would be smiling after everything she went through today. Honey-senpai sprinted after her, while she noticeably limped her way towards us.

Honey-senpai tackled her, almost to the ground, but Aria only laughed and hugged him tight. He was crying tears of joy, babbling away about how worried he was about her. The twins the rest of us, because we had stopped at a short distance. Haruhi was the first to embrace Kaoru after Hikaru, while Tamaki had put a hand at his shoulder and beamed at him, surprisingly having nothing to say.

"It's good to have you back, Kaoru," I said, smiling gently at him, though my attention was at the corner of my eye on Aria and Honey-senpai.

He barely glanced at me. "Yeah, thanks…" he said, before turning to Hikaru again, who was also almost in tears. There was an unmistakable bitter undertone in Kaoru's voice that I caught but to be honest, I wasn't all that concerned with it.

I turned back to Aria again, where Mori-senpai had just reached out to ruffle her hair about four yards away from me. She smiled up at him before embracing him around the stomach; I think that caught him by surprise but he eventually held her.

Aria was covered in bruises and several large lacerations in various regions on her body. Her navy blue tank top was torn in some places too. I saw small amounts of dry blood sticking to her left temple, along with a wound there. That heavily concerned me.

When she released Mori-senpai, her green eyes caught mine. We gazed at each other for a moment, before she smiled affectionately at me. I started to make my way towards her, wanting nothing more than to just hold in my arms to know she was safe.

But Tamaki, like the oblivious person he was, got to her before I did. He brought her into a crushing hug.

"My baby sister!" he wailed. "I was so worried about you! How can you put your big brother through so much turmoil like that? I thought I was never going to see you again! And then my little girl wasn't going to have her best friend anymore and she was so sad too that you might have not come back!"

He kept rambling on but I lost track of what he was saying because he was speaking in such high pitches and too fast for me to register everything.

I wanted desperately to talk to her, to hold her…anything. However, I was patient. I'd find the moment where I could eventually. I was just happy she was alive…and relatively unscathed.

* * *

The group was back on the ship in the infirmary, Kaoru and Aria under the medical attention of highly trained physicians that were paid well to join them on their vacation.

Kaoru was fine, more of less, he just had to have several wounds cleaned and dressed. Other than that, he had nothing to complain about.

Aria, however, had to have a few x-rays done, one for her ankle and the other for her head, aside from dressing her wounds. It was concluded that she had a very minor concussion from the blow to her left temple and it should only cause some headaches for the next two to three days. Her left ankle was sprained as well and was asked to stay off of it for a few days if it was possible. They offered her crutches but she refused them and only took the foot brace instead.

They were allowed to leave shortly after, but the doctor suggested that both Kaoru and Aria, more so Aria, rest for the rest of night. Aria didn't take kindly to this "suggestion," seeing that she felt it was more of a gentle demand, but with much urging from the group, she and Kaoru remained bed ridden.

Because of this, Hikaru decided to keep Kaoru company, playing video games, watching a movie, and calling room service to pass the time.

Mori and Honey went to the gym to practice martial arts, since they had been neglecting it for a few days, leaving Haruhi, Tamaki, and Kyoya to entertain themselves.

Haruhi wasn't very keen on the idea of spending time with Kyoya and Tamaki without backup so she told them she was going to get a massage.

And Kyoya was now stuck entertaining Tamaki for the evening.

It wasn't hard, really. Tamaki had challenged Kyoya to a game of shuffle board…to which Kyoya was highly disinterested in and therefore, lost miserably. Tamaki didn't like that Kyoya wasn't putting much effort into the game so he then dragged Kyoya over to the rock climbing wall to rock climb.

Kyoya managed to weasel his way out of climbing it at the last second and Tamaki didn't realize that until he had already reached the top. He then threw his typical, Tamaki tantrum. After that, Tamaki forced Kyoya into ice skating.

Thankfully, Kyoya was able to skate around in peace while Tamaki raced around the rink at top speed, asking Kyoya to time him on each lap.

By the end of the night, Kyoya's plan had been successful. Tamaki was rather tired from today's events by the time they were back at his room.

Thankfully, Tamaki had not brought up the subject of Aria and Kyoya's relationship all afternoon, although Kyoya was positive that Tamaki wanted to. There was always a certain look Tamaki would get but then he would think better of it.

All Kyoya had been concerned about all day was Aria…twice during the course of the evening, Kyoya had called up to Aria's room, checking up on her. Both times she laughed, amused by his minor paranoia, and told him she was obediently in her room. Kyoya, however, knew that that meant nothing…because for all he knew, she could be jumping on her bed or something reckless just to pass the time, which could injure her further. She denied these allegations…though Kyoya was sure he could hear a deceptive laugh in her voice.

Tamaki took his time getting ready for bed, which aggravated Kyoya to no end. He just wanted Tamaki to fall asleep but he took a shower and watched part of a movie before he passed out, practically snoring as loud as a train horn.

The moment Kyoya was sure that Tamaki was dead asleep (which was when Tamaki snores ceased and he started twitching irregularly), Kyoya sat up quickly in the bed. In the semi-darkness, he pulled on a t-shirt and his jeans before slipping downstairs, making sure to be as silent as possible, despite the fact that the TV was on quite loud.

He shut the door quietly, checking his watch as he stepped into the hall. It was a few minutes before nine forty-five. He knew he should probably not stay too long because Aria needed rest…but he just wanted to see her…and talk to her. Kyoya walked across the hallway to Aria's door, lifting his hand up to knock.

The door abruptly opened, however, before he could even knock once. Aria smiled at him wryly, dressed in her black tank top and pajama shorts.

"Well, it's about time," she said, a hint of flirtatiousness in her voice.

Kyoya smirked. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting…" he said in his signature smooth tone.

He entered her room, never taking his eyes off her, and shut the door behind him.


	22. Crossroads

**Author's note: Helllllooooo, everyone! Hoped you enjoyed your July 4th weekend (for the Americans) and for all others, I HOPE YOUR WEEKEND WAS AMAZING TOO! ^_^ Anyways, here is the next chapter. I hope you guys like it. I don't have much to put up here so Imma let you guys get to it. **

**If you feel so inclined to make my little review number go up, hence making me SQUEAL with excitement, please review it. I love comments, questions, suggestions, criticism, and everything in between. Love you all! xoxo (as I always, i read this over once I've written it but because i've written it, I have a tendency to miss my spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. Mi dispiace! (I'm sorry in Italian.) By the way, just assume that whenever Kyoya and Aria are alone, they're speaking in Italian. I get kind of annoyed having to reiterate that everytime they're alone. k? kthanks!  
**

**I own nothing of OHSHC, just my OCs and plot. whoooohooo!**

Chapter Twenty-two: Crossroads

Aria had checked the door to her room probably at least ten times, staring through the peep hole to see if Kyoya was going to come visit her tonight. She figured he would, seeing that they didn't have a chance to talk earlier that day, except on the phone when he called to check on her.

She smiled at the thought.

When she had first saw him after the rescue, she could automatically see the relief and lingering worry in his dark gray eyes. However, Kyoya was the master of masks and illusions so he outwardly did not look all that concerned for her well-being…but she knew better.

Aria's fight with Kaoru earlier went unresolved. They were in the heat of arguing when they heard the helicopter over head. Kaoru instantly dropped the subject and started running frantically down the river, screaming and waving his arms to signal the chopper. Aria also started the attempt to flag them down; she had found a large branch and waved it above her to get the pilot's attention.

The chopper hovered above them, since it couldn't land anywhere, and two men, attached to cables, leapt from the aircraft. They lowered themselves to the ground and quickly attached safety harnesses to Kaoru and Aria before grabbing a hold of them and being pulled back up.

Aria had never been so relieved to see other people though. They attempted to give the both of them some immediate medical attention as they flew back to the heliport, but they discontinued quickly, seeing that the ride back was relatively short.

But because there had been no conclusion to their argument, due to the interruption, Aria wasn't sure how Kaoru was going to behave tomorrow. That worried her. She couldn't decide if she wanted him to pretend everything okay, hence faking…her ultimate pet peeve, or if she wanted him to just act how he feels, despite that it may cause a problem in the group. Either way, both scenarios would piss her off.

Aria was still fairly angry with him. To have started a pointless fight with her, one that he knew the outcome was only going to hurt him…well, needless to say, it infuriated her at the thought.

So, she stopped thinking of it altogether and went to check the door again.

Thankfully, she was tall enough where she didn't have to stand on her tippy toes, and hurt her ankle further, to see through the hole. She felt her heart leap to her throat momentarily when she saw Kyoya's figure approaching the door.

Aria impulsively opened the door before he had a chance to knock. She didn't want to seem overly eager, so she tried to put on an enticing smile.

"Well, it's about time." She made it perfectly clear that she was flirting, at least slightly.

Kyoya automatically smirked while he gazed down at her.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting…" he said barely above a whisper. Aria let him in and he shut the door behind him without taking his eyes off hers. He reached for her hand and placed his lips on her fingers lightly, reminding her of a dashing prince. This was his form of flirting.

Aria tried to keep up with his rather seductive gaze, if that was possible…but after a moment, she started to grow embarrassed and her face grew hot. She couldn't hold it and looked away, smiling sheepishly at the ground.

Kyoya almost commented on this, but his eyes caught sight of something.

"Where is your brace?" he asked in a tone much like a father would, eyeing her disapprovingly, noticing the black foot brace was not on her left ankle. Somehow, this did not surprise him though.

She laughed, winking at him playfully.

"Somewhere upstairs," she replied breezily. "You honestly thought I'd wear that thing?"

"One could hope," Kyoya said while she turned away from him and walked away towards the couch where her laptop was waiting for her. He knew she was mustering through the pain in her ankle to look as though she could walk normally, but he could see the slightest amount of limp in her gait.

He reached out for her wrist before she walked too far from him. Aria turned her head around to face him, confused. Kyoya pulled her gently, but quickly, into a warm embrace with an arm around her waist and his other hand at the back of her head. At last, he could finally hold her.

At first, she was shocked that he had been brazen but she settled into his hug, shutting her eyes and inhaling his scent deeply. More than anything, she enjoyed the sense of safety she felt in his arms.

They stood there in silence for at least a minute or so…though Aria thought it was of the longest minute of her life, but in a good way.

"For the record," said Kyoya, an undertone of irritation prevalent, "I am still very angry with you."

Aria laughed shortly into his chest. "Oh no," she said in mock fright. "The Shadow King's wrath is too much for me. Let me run in fear."

"You _would _say something sarcastic," he sighed, though he was amused. Both sort of chuckled.

Aria opened her eyes and stared at the wall, but made no move to release him. They were quiet for a moment more before she spoke up. "I'm sorry for scaring you," she replied honestly. "I'm sure it was rough for all of you to be worried about Kaoru and I."

"'Rough' isn't the quite the word I would have chosen."

Aria chuckled again.

"Well, either way…I'm sorry."

Kyoya rolled his eyes above her. "I hope you know that I had to fill out quite a bit of paperwork…" he said darkly. "As well as notify your parents."

She pulled out of the hug quickly, staring at him with a horrified expression. "You did what?" she said apprehensively.

He held a blank expression. "I notified your parents of what transpired today," he repeated. "I have been in regular contact with them since you were chosen to join us for this trip, and it was necessary to inform them on your condition."

Aria visibly paled before she turned to go sit on the couch, numb. Kyoya eyed her from the doorway.

She slumped into the seat, a hand over her eyes.

"They're going to murder me…"

He followed her over to the couch and sat next to her. "Your father took the news quite well, actually," he assured her. "Your mother, on the other hand, was highly concerned and a bit furious with you. She was demanding that we send you home but…your father stepped in and told me that it wasn't necessary, even though I did inform him it was possible. However, I told them we had highly trained physicians on the ship and that you were fine."

She threw a semi-dark glare at him. "That means nothing," she groaned. "I'm sure my mom and brother are going to send me a thousand emails a piece, yelling at me through text…. _Joy."_

"They have reason to," Kyoya replied indifferently. "You were negligent, proud, and irresponsible."

Another death glare. "I don't know if you know, but you're sort of doing the opposite of flattering me right now."

He chuckled lightly but gazed at her for a moment. "That does not mean that I do not find your recklessness unattractive," he explained, still in a relatively apathetic tone. "In fact, it's quite the opposite."

Aria's face grew warm again. "Oh _really?" _she said, smirking widely at him.

"That doesn't give you the incentive to gallivant around and trying to get yourself killed," he added, giving her a warning look.

She made a puppy dog face. "Aw, you're no fun."

They continued to talk well into the night; Kyoya wasn't all that concerned with the time and neither was Aria since the ship was out at sea the next day. Kyoya could tell she was very sore; she would wince when she would move her body a certain way and she had taken some prescribed aspirin from the physician for her headache from the minor concussion. Kyoya eventually voiced his concern on this but as her pride shows time and time again, she brushed him off and insisted that she was fine. Still, it didn't negate that there were dark bruises across her legs and arms as well as at least half a dozen semi-bloodied bandages covering up wounds.

Aria had also shown him more of the pictures she had taken and edited, as well as showing him a small video piece she had finished. She had so much free time, being confined to her room, she felt it would be good to tackle the assignment Kyoya had given her, especially since he had given her the rescued camera earlier that day. Aria had thought she had lost it in the fall.

He realized she had a lot more footage that he originally thought after she was finished showcasing her work; he vaguely wondered where she even had the time to film and take pictures because he rarely noticed her doing either. That aside, she had talent…and he had mentioned the other night that she had wanted to pursue photography at one point.

Kyoya promptly uploaded the two minute long video with the use of Aria's laptop, which contained many segments of the Host Club members through the last ten days of the trip. On the Host Club website, he wrote in the description of the video that it was more or less a trailer to the final video of the trip, which customers could purchase. To promote the "movie" further, he did a small announcement. Aria didn't really read it fully but it looked as if customers purchased the final "movie" of the Host Club on their cruise in advanced, they would receive a few photos free, ones not showcased in the picture book that was also available for purchase.

Within six minutes, the trailer had almost three hundred views and counting. Pre-orders were amounting to just about the same number, more so on the higher side because Kyoya said that some of the customers they had purchased more than one DVD and/or picture book.

"Seriously, this makes me want to hurl," Aria said, eye twitching as she stared at the screen, which was updating the number of views and orders automatically in thirty second intervals. Kyoya chuckled, reaching for the wireless mouse.

Aria had never judged any of them for their business that they were in. She found it revolting and was never fond of taking part of it, but she had to admit, they did their jobs well…and it wasn't like they didn't give back some of their revenue to the school.

She also was still curious as to how Kyoya managed to become the mastermind behind it all, because Aria didn't see him as the type to come up with something as ridiculous as a host club on his own.

The idea was silly, really, at least to Aria and she made that known to Kyoya.

"Silly?" he asked, intrigued. He sat back into the couch and gazed at her while she sat at the other end, her feet resting on his legs. "Please elaborate. I'm interested."

She couldn't help but laugh lightly.

"Well, to be honest," she said, not wanting to offend him or push a button, "you're basically toying with their emotions. Girls are emotional creatures, unfortunately, so…it's just frustrating to see them fall for all of your acts everyday."

He looked thoughtful. "I do not see any such frustration from them," he said. "If I did, I would have been informed immediately about it-"

"Well of course they're not frustrated," she cut in, still speaking lightly. She wasn't trying to start anything…they were just having a conversation. "You guys, especially Tamaki, give these girls false hopes that their affections will be returned one day. I mean, part of a host club is knowing that the guy that's your host won't ever like you back but those girls still hope…. You guys make them fall in love with you more and more each day and though it was made clear that none of you will return their love, they still hope because of your behavior."

Kyoya let a sly smile slip across his lips. "Are you worried that because I am a host, you will have to deal with other girls are in love with me and therefore, attempt to get me to return their affections?" he asked.

She snorted. "Please," she replied dismissively. "Even if I had competition, it wouldn't bother me. I'm not the type to get overly jealous or protective."

He already knew her reply would have been like that; her personality showed that much already. That's one of the reasons why Kyoya was fond of her. Aria's independence, as well as confidence in herself, kept up a chase. Other girls at Ouran would leave no hunt for him, thus causing him to grow bored.

Men, in the simplest sense, were hunters. They liked to pursue anything that provided a challenge. However, at the same time, a chase that eventually draws out for too long or proves too challenging, the man will still grow bored and move on.

It was a very delicate game that men and women played.

Whether she was behaving that way on purpose or not, Aria had a knack for the game. Kyoya, in a sense, had to chase her for some time, and then she would give in some form, letting him be able to catch her. But before he thought he had won, she would slip from his grasp…and the chase would begin again, keeping the attraction alive and strong.

Aria was the master of the game, unknowingly or not.

He smiled to himself, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I very rarely ever host to an individual, or even a pair of customers," he replied. "I supervise and manage the club, not partake in it's, as you call it, 'silly' endeavors."

She thought back to when she had first been introduced to him. Aria laughed quietly to herself, causing him to raise an eyebrow at her. Their interaction had been so aggravating for the both of them for quite sometime, merely for the fact that both were stubborn and refused to see past first impressions. For a while, they couldn't even look at each other without bickering about something insignificant.

"What of me?" she asked, amused. He realized what she had been thinking of.

"Tamaki forced you on me quite frankly," he said flatly. Which was true. After he had hosted Aria for a while on the first day he met her and just before the announcement, he saw the tiny papers Tamaki had placed into the top hat…all of them had said Kyoya's name in Tamaki's handwriting. Tamaki even used those same papers for the rigged drawing for the trip. Haruhi had picked the name, which read Kyoya in text…but Tamaki had read Aria's name aloud, unbeknownst to anyone but the twins and Kyoya.

Aria gasped and sat up quickly, wincing in the process, mocking a look of outrage. _"Forced me on you?" _she said incredulously, though trying to hide her smile. "I'm sure you had enough power to say no to him if you really wanted to."

He smirked. "I must admit, your attractiveness made it hard to say no."

Aria knew he was lying, but she wasn't hurt. Sure, he may have thought her attractive from the very beginning, but that type of thing wouldn't phase Kyoya and _still_ wouldn't.

"Force me on you, puh…" she scoffed playfully while rolling her eyes and laying back into the couch again. "I'll show you force."

He snorted as he shut down her laptop. "I'm sure," he replied cynically.

By two am, Aria passed out on the couch. Kyoya guessed she had fallen asleep in the middle of his explanation of he managed to become best friends with the most obnoxious person on the planet, an explanation Aria had asked for. He didn't mind though; he was happy she was getting some rest.

Kyoya carefully lifted her off the couch, not wanting to hurt her and carried her upstairs to her bed.

Her skin was relatively warm so he decided not to pull the cover over her but just the sheet to make sure she stayed cool, seeing that he didn't think the air conditioner was on in her room.

He gazed at her for a moment, hands in his pockets. It was amazing how being confined to a small area with someone has the opportunity to bring them closer.

Kyoya leaned over and kissed her forehead lightly before turning to go downstairs. Once he hit the bottom landing, his eyes caught sight of the video camera again.

He was surprised he didn't think of it before…. That camera had gone down with her and Kaoru earlier today, and it was still in good condition.

Curious, he went over to the couch. He sat down and picked up the video camera, turning it on once he found the power button.

He found the playback screen and it showed six mini squares within the screen, showing different video segments that could be played, the date in the corner of each video.

Kyoya found today's date and the mini screen capture showed the river. He clicked enter on that one and sat back into the couch to watch.

It started out with green vegetation in every which direction. "This is Barbados and one of its rivers. Sadly, I forgot the name of it," he heard Aria's voice say, showing the river below and the waterfall. Kyoya watched as she panned around to show Kaoru, surrounded by trees and plants. "Aaaand this is Kaoru Hitachiin, who is looking very handsome this find morning."

Kyoya felt a smile tug as his lips at Aria's words but he noticed immediately that Kaoru did not look at all amused. In fact, he looked rather worried as he took a step towards the camera.

"Aria…" Kaoru said warily, not looking at the camera and reaching for Aria. "We should go. Seriously."

She laughed behind the camera, clearly not concerned. "Quit being so worried!"

Kyoya sighed heavily, knowing exactly what was about to happen, though a part of him was curious as to if it was still going to play after the fall. He assumed that she had the strap around her neck, which is the only reason she still had it.

The camera distanced itself from Kaoru and Kyoya guessed she had taken a step backwards towards the river. But in that second, the camera jerked, showing Kaoru looking panic-stricken.

There were screams in the background and caused Kyoya quickly turn it down because they were so loud; he hoped that Aria wouldn't wake up from it. The camera wasn't able to capture much as they fell, only dirt and occasional flashes of the sky, a small moment where Aria's legs came to view, and a split second of Kaoru.

Then the water came into the screen. Kyoya looked closely, the rushing water creating a sort of loud white noise, but all he could see was rocks, water, and more rocks. There would be occasional moment where a human figure would come to view but it wasn't for long and Kyoya wasn't sure who exactly it was.

For a good three minutes, it went on...until the camera emerged from the water, showing Aria's legs, cut up and bleeding. From what Kyoya could see and hear, it sounded as if Kaoru was gasping for breath while he dragged Aria out of the river and onto the rocky bank.

"Aria!" Kaoru shouted, laying her down, the video camera moving and rolling to show his torso. "Wake up…wake up, Aria."

The camera suddenly was moving, showing half his face for a second before it was obviously tossed to the side. Kyoya assumed Kaoru removed it from her neck. The camera rolled, recording on it's side so Kyoya turned it to see the video right side up.

The lens was directly on Aria and Kaoru, both soaking wet and cut and bleeding; in the direct line of sight, Aria's gash to the left side of her head was bleeding almost profusely. Kyoya's heart went momentarily cold at how motionless Aria was. Her chest was moving rhythmically up and down…it was completely still.

"No, no, no, no, no," Kaoru hysterically whispered. Kyoya knew that Kaoru new CPR…the Host Club was required to know it, according to Tamaki, before opening up the club.

Kaoru worked quickly, opening up her airway and placing his lips on her, breathing life into her. He then pressed down quickly on her diaphragm four times before repeating the process.

At first, Kaoru was silent but Kyoya could see he was getting frantic and started to talk to Aria, as if she could hear him, between the moments when he was breathing into her. It was slightly drowned out by the din of the river so Kyoya turned the volume up again.

"Please, Aria!" he practically begged. "I can't lose you!"

He went back to her lips and forced air into her lungs. "You gotta come back. I'm gonna go crazy if you die, Aria! Ever since I met you…you were always smiling at me, always laughing. You _can't _die!"

It was clear that Kaoru wasn't sure of what he was saying, but was in a sort of hysteria because of the situation. He was talking to talk, even though Kyoya knew what Kaoru had to say was probably true to some degree.

"If you die…what am I gonna do? I care so much about you, you don't even know…. I've never _ever _let someone get to know me like you do. You just…invaded our space so you can't just leave me now."

Kyoya was having a harder and harder time watching but he couldn't find himself to press pause. He felt immobilized.

"It's gonna sound crazy but…I swear, I mean it…" Kaoru exclaimed in his panic; even from the distance of the camera, Kyoya could see the tears forming in his eyes. "…I love you!"

From the camera's view, Kyoya could see that Aria's fingers twitched at this but Kaoru didn't notice.

"I know it hasn't been that long and that we're only friends, but I swear I do. I promise…I promise I'll never love someone like I love you…but please! Please, come back!"

Somehow, Kyoya knew this…. He wasn't angry with Kaoru for confessing this…but Kyoya felt like his whole body went cold.

Kaoru loved Aria.

Not only that…but he admitted it…even if he thought it was just to himself.

Kyoya, as much as he cared for Aria…he wasn't about to say he loved her. It wasn't that he didn't…but to admit that? After never having loved anyone really…? Kyoya wasn't quite sure if he _could _tell Aria that he loved her.

Eventually with time, Kyoya could but…if Kaoru could already love and admit to it before him, then maybe Kaoru was better for Aria then he was. Or maybe this was all his deluded logic…

For once…Kyoya didn't know what to do.

"Aria!" Kaoru shouted again from the video camera, recapturing Kyoya's attention. "Aria, stay with me!"

Kaoru was slowing in pace now, losing hope that he would be able to revive her but he kept trying. It was easy to see that the dam in his brain was about to break. "Aria," he kept saying. "Don't leave me! C'mon! You can pull through this."

He pressed on her diaphragm again and Aria burst to life, coughing up water and rolling to her side, facing the camera, and her eyes shut.

She laid there, wheezing and Kaoru hovered over her for a long time. The look in his eyes was clear and it made Kyoya completely numb to see it. Aria turned back over and finally gazed up at Kaoru.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Kyoya immediately shut the screen and turned it off, not able to watch anymore. He stood up and glanced up at the loft overhead where Aria was sleeping.

After a minute, he walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Aria, who had woken up by the noise, laid there motionless with tears streaming across her face.


	23. The Tables that Turn

**Author's Note: fluff fluff fluff. Anyways, sorry it took forever and a day to update this story. I've had a lot going on in the last few months, plus I just was really stuck with the story in general. I finally sat myself down and started writing for it again. It's a pretty short chapter, and i'm sorry for that.**

**Also, Idk if anyone knows, but when i first wrote this story, I had watched ouran dubbed...I've seen it both subbed and dubbed now, and I love both version, i don't care what anyone says. But I feel like the characters' personalities are a little different from dubbed to subbed. So when I re read this entire story the other day, I realized some characters are rather OOC from the subbed version. And i'm sorry about that too. Anyways, enjoy this little chapter. I'll be sure to be more timely with the next update. I want this story to be finished so I can move onto an UtaPri fic.**

**I own nothing of OHSHC. Just my OC and plot line. xoxo**

Chapter Twenty-three: The Tables that Turn

"He's _sick?"_ Aria asked, slightly surprised at Tamaki's announcement.

Tamaki nodded sadly. "Yes, Kyoya said he wasn't feeling very well," he replied. "He did look a bit pale when he woke up."

The Host Club, minus Kyoya, and Aria had all sat down to breakfast in the dining hall the next morning. Today, the ship was at sea before they would arrive at Aruba the next day. Aria, who had a hard time sleeping last night after what she had heard on the video camera about Kaoru's love for her, was a little shocked to find that Kyoya was not in attendance.

_He seemed fine last night…_she thought as she idly picked at her waffles.

Aria looked up to gaze out the window but she caught Kaoru's questioning eyes. Immediately, she averted her own to her food again, not wanting to look at him.

She was unsure of how she was supposed to continue with Kaoru.

As of that moment, their fight was still unresolved…and the knowledge of what he confessed while she was unconscious just made the situation a thousand times more awkward than she could have imagined.

Aria struggled with the idea of someone being in love with her…or having some sort of deeper love for her. It's not that she didn't think it was possible or that she was unlovable, not by any means…but she was just a little skeptical with the idea of the emotion as a whole.

On the contrary, she thought that teenagers actually had a very pure form of love. Aria had always felt that young people, or at least people who are feeling their very first real love for someone, have the purest love…because they hadn't been tainted by the world or by heartbreak. Teenagers, who truly feel it, love with reckless abandon and beautiful ignorance of what hurt is. Those who have experienced it…keep themselves guarded and closed off in some degree, not wanting to risk their hearts so easily.

But not much time has elapsed between when she first met the Host Club and now. Even with how close everyone has become within the last week or so, Aria was still unconvinced that what Kaoru was feeling was more than just a large infatuation with her.

She needed to talk to him…alone….

Aria looked up after a moment, noticing that everyone was discussing what they were doing for the day…well, everyone except Mori. Kaoru was sitting on the opposite side of the table and one seat to her left.

With her foot, she reached under the table and tapped lightly on Kaoru's shin. Confused, he looked at Haruhi, who was directly across from him.

"Would you stop playing footsies with me, Haruhi?" laughed Kaoru. Haruhi drew in her eyebrows, looking irritated.

"I'm not!" she snapped defensively, her pale cheeks turning a hint of red.

"Sorry, that was me," said Aria quickly to him. Kaoru turned his gaze to her and she made the smallest head gesture she could to the general direction of the bathroom. Luckily, no one noticed her slight head jerk. Once she felt like he understood, she excused herself.

Aria walked as quickly as she could with her semi-swollen ankle towards the back of the dining hall where the hallway to the bathrooms were but didn't enter the one with the pictured woman on it. She hid behind the wall, listening to the others resume talking.

After a minute, she heard the sound of chair grinding against the floor. "I have to use the bathroom too. I'll be right back," Kaoru's voice said. "No, it's fine, Hikaru."

A few seconds later, he turned the corner, hands in the pockets of his shorts and looking confused and wary at the same time. She noticed that his bruise on his chin was darker than it was yesterday and he still had a thin bandage taped to his face for the cut on his cheek.

"What?" he asked in a low voice, understanding that this conversation wasn't supposed to be broadcasted.

Aria lowered her eyes, now suddenly feeling guilty. "Kaoru-kun, I heard…" she began to say quietly but she trailed off. "The video tape…I heard what you said."

Kaoru's face paled visibly and he instantly looked uncomfortable. "I don't know what you're talking about…" he lied.

"Don't start," she replied curtly. She was still able to keep her anger relatively under control as she gazed up at him but she saw that Kaoru didn't like her tone. He averted his topaz eyes away, looking annoyed that he had been snapped at.

A small moment of awkward silence enveloped the pair as they stood there, not meeting each other's eyes. Aria audibly sighed.

"I don't want to fight with you again and I just…I'm sorry that the feeling isn't mutual," she said somberly. "And…I don't want this to come off as if I'm not grateful for you saving my life yesterday, Kaoru-kun, because I am. In all honesty, yesterday puts me in your debt."

Kaoru glanced down at her but remained mute. He didn't want to say anything, fearing he would say something stupid or dig himself into another hole that he didn't need to be in.

"Please don't do this…" she whispered desperately, seeing his walls were only climbing higher. "I don't want to lose my best friend over this…"

He turned his gaze at her again but this time he didn't look away. The remorse clouded her eyes as she stared up at him.

Kaoru groaned quietly and abruptly brought her into a tight embrace; how can he stay angry with her when she looked at him like that?

Aria was surprised with the gesture but after a second, she wrapped her arms around him in return.

"This is so _Twilight _that it's pathetic," he sighed into her ear. He wished he never had to let go…because this might be the last time he would ever hold her like this.

Aria chuckled, the undertone of sadness still prevalent. "I'm sorry…"

Kaoru reluctantly released her and smiled down at her. "Well, you never know…" he said, leaving the sentence hanging and winking mischievously. "And, just so you know…I meant it."

He leaned over and kissed her cheek, letting his lips linger on her skin a little longer than necessary. At his touch, Aria froze, surprised with the action, though he had done it once before.

And with that, Kaoru turned on his heel and left her standing there staring after him. She shook her head, the slightest amount of irritation bubbling up but she let it go, thankful that Kaoru had been so compliant with resolving the issue. Aria didn't think that he would have just given in so quickly…but she guessed, or maybe hoped, that he valued their friendship more than letting a fight get between them.

Kaoru just didn't want to cause a rift within the group. These friends were everything to him and Hikaru. He wouldn't be able live with himself if he were to be the cause of drama.

He sighed quietly as he sat down in his chair, causing Hikaru to look over at him questioningly. Kaoru smiled reassuringly, not wanting to hint about anything, even to his twin.

_I guess losing gracefully is the best way to keep things the way they are…_

* * *

Kyoya stood on Tamaki's balcony, leaning against the railing and staring out at the passing blue water beneath him. His mind was rather empty at the moment, which he was grateful for because all night it had been filled with more emotions and thoughts he could even sort out. If it wasn't hard enough sleeping next to the ever-twitching Tamaki, his thoughts kept him in a half sleep the majority of the night.

There was a large _bang! _that occurred behind him, catching him off guard and he turned around to see what had fallen.

However, Aria was standing at the doorway to the room, having opened the door forcefully, and looking quite angry.

"I _knew _you weren't sick," Aria said as she strode quickly and purposefully towards him, though still masking a heavy limp. She didn't sound very pleased with him.

Kyoya half-heartedly smirked and opened his mouth to reply.

"It's not like you to run away from a situation, no matter what it is," she cut in once she was at the sliding glass door. He blinked at the accusation.

He exhaled slowly, turning towards the water again. "So you _were_ awake..."

"The damn thing was so loud it woke up the entire ship," she said jokingly to his back, hoping it would alleviate some of the tension between them. He smiled just slightly but it faded.

There was a loudest silence she had ever heard that came between them. Aria didn't like it because he was hiding in his brain and she didn't know what he was thinking.

"He said it so easily…" said Kyoya contemplatively.

Aria couldn't help but roll her eyes. "It was sort of a life and death situation," she replied shortly. "He was talking to distract himself. You shouldn't take what he said to heart."

"You should."

She looked at him, slightly surprised with the statement. He had still yet to turn his gaze to her and it was starting to irritate her.

"Perhaps humanity as a whole may say things such as 'I love you' without meaning," clarified Kyoya emotionlessly when Aria didn't reply, "but we both know Kaoru enough to know that he meant it. There was no hesitation in his voice…and the assurance was clear."

Aria exhaled, frustrated. "Just what are you implying?" she asked, the irritation evident in her tone.

He lowered his eyes. Kyoya didn't look like he wanted to reply, if at all.

"…I…" he started to say but fell silent for a moment. "…I don't know."

She was surprised to see him behaving this way, not knowing what course of action to take. For some reason, Aria felt irritation rise in her throat.

"Look at me."

Her tone was riding on the edge of anger and one of sympathy, which sounded impossible. It was surprising how noticeable it was that he hesitated.

Once his gray eyes were upon hers, she took a breath to calm herself.

"Two days ago, you knew exactly what you wanted. You were pretty damn sure of yourself, even willing to risk repercussions from your father because you said that I was worth the time and effort," Aria explained, her eyes dark. "And now because you think Kaoru is some sort of competition or is better for me…whatever it is…you're second guessing yourself?"

Kyoya didn't blink as he gazed down at her.

"Kyoya Ootori doesn't second guess himself," she half spat. "Ever…. You need to make a decision. Forget what Kaoru said, it doesn't matter…because what matters is what's going on between you and I, not me and Kaoru."

The determination in her eyes was so clear, she looked like she wasn't going to let him just walk away without good reason.

"Besides, I'm not looking for you to tell me you love me…in fact, I'd rather you don't. Because honestly…I'd rather you say it to me when you're ready and when you feel it and I definitely don't expect those words to come out of you right now. That's just ridiculous."

Aria paused for a fraction of a second to breathe.

"I like _you, _Kyoya," she continued firmly. _"You. _Every damn guy on the planet could love me…but that's not going to change how I feel about you."

Kyoya was not expecting such a blunt statement on her part, especially since the subject matter has been something they've been delicately treading upon for some time now.

"So let's stop dancing around the subject…. Are we dating or are we not?"

A moment of silence passed through them again, one with Kyoya staring blankly at her, absorbing her speech and trying to make sense of it all.

She was chasing him.

The knowledge of this fact was so overwhelming that he couldn't find the words to speak. Aria, though having been pulled in one direction…was still running after him…and Kyoya, for the life of him, didn't understand why. She was pursuing him and with such resolve; it was like a game to her, one that she wasn't about to lose.

Noise escaped his lips. At first, he was a couple of light chuckles but it quickly developed itself into complete laughter. Aria stared at him, confused as to what was amusing.

He felt…relieved, in a way, and laughing was the only thing his body could do.

Kyoya still didn't know what it was about her that drew him to her so assuredly, what made his cold demeanor towards everything soften a little. The mask of arrogance, vanity, and pride…gone with her. He would have sworn on his life that his heart would never beat like this for a girl.

What was it about her…?

His hand gripped her upper arm and he pulled her almost roughly to him. Kyoya held her tightly in his arms, the smell of warm vanilla enveloping his senses.

"You're too stubborn…" he whispered, his eyes closed. "It's going to get you into trouble."

Aria chuckled into his chest, her hands gripping his shirt while she held him.

It was because she forced him to be real with himself…. She wasn't interested in his wealth…his looks…his abilities. Just him.

She wanted him despite all the flaws, all the defects…all the imperfections of his being. Aria just didn't care.

People like this didn't exist…not in reality…not at their age.

And the thing he didn't understand the most was that she didn't care that he couldn't say those three words yet. She didn't care if he was unwilling to admit to them, even it were true to say them so early…he couldn't.

It was clear that she would wait for him…like he had been waiting for her.

_Stay with me…_


	24. To Where You Are

**Author's Note: Hey there! Here's the next chapter! Please enjoy it. :) It was fun to write, and a little more insight on Aria. Also, there isn't much left of the story, just giving you guys a head's up. I thought about doing a continuation story...like after the cruise...but I feel like I should leave the rest up to all of your imaginations...or something. Yeah, I already have the ending in mind for this story. ANYWAYS HAVE FUN! Don't forget to review, or criticize and whatever. Maybe I'll be able to get over 200 reviews by the time the story is over. Anyways. xoxo bye reviews/subscribers/favoriters. enjoy!**

**I don't own OHSHC. Only my OCs and my plot line.**

Chapter Twenty-four: _To __Where __You __Are_

After a small discussion, it was decided (though it had already been known), that Kyoya and Aria were now officially dating. However, they still felt the need to keep their relationship very low-key. Neither were much for public displays of affection, and neither wanted advertise their new status to anyone either. In the event that someone asked them if they were together, Aria and Kyoya would not deny the allegation but again, they weren't going to end up going around and telling people.

This was for a few reasons. The first and the most important was that they wanted to respect Kaoru. Aria had felt it would be a little disrespectful and that aside, Kaoru was her best friend…she wanted to tread as lightly as she could on his feelings, because hurting him was already unavoidable. Secondly, per Kyoya's request, he did not want the girls of Ouran Academy to get wind of him being in a relationship now.

Aria had no objection to this, which surprised him. She had said she would rather avoid the angry girls that would not like that the VP of the Host Club now was dating someone. She knew that there were very few girls that ever requested Kyoya and that his "cool type" title was only meant for show, but she still wasn't keen on the idea of the whole school knowing, since news about the Host Club spread quite quickly.

She also had a feeling that more girls would be interested in Kyoya once they found out he was taken…because women liked the idea of a challenge and stealing men away from others.

Thirdly, though he wouldn't openly admit it, Kyoya wanted to avoid his father's impending anger about the subject for as long as he could. Aria knew this, but did not voice her knowledge, also not very eager to meet the head of the Ootori group.

And fourthly…they just weren't _that_ type of couple; they didn't exactly want anyone to really be aware of their status. Was it hiding…? Yes…but they both agreed for it to be this way.

Aria asked for Kyoya not to divulge this to her family, as she wanted to do it herself. She felt it was more of her responsibility to let them know she was in a relationship. The problem, however, is she was unsure how it was going to play out.

She figured her mother would throw a fit…and her brother would be right alongside her. Oriana wouldn't care…as she cared little about the affairs of her family, and her father would probably be the most calm about the news.

Kyoya and Aria found the rest of the Host Club at the pool. The group was surprised that he was feeling better, though no one seemed to be all that concerned with it either. Kyoya and Aria joined them in the water, not voicing what had transpired only a few minutes prior.

Kaoru was playing everything off as if nothing had ever happened; he was still behaving rather mischievous with Hikaru and had no problem interacting with Kyoya, to Aria's relief.

"Tama-chan," said Honey from atop Mori's shoulders, who was waist deep in the pool. "Let's do karaoke today! We haven't done that yet!"

Aria looked caught Haruhi's nearly horrified expression at the word karaoke. Aria totally understood where she was coming from though; she was _not_about to sing in front of anyone.

Tamaki's eyes lit up like a light show at the suggestion though. "That is a wonderful idea, Honey-senpai!" he cried, lifting his hand up to point to the sky. "And everyone shall sing!"

"Yeaaah, about that…" said Aria, scratching the back of her head. "I'm gonna have to pass-"

"Hey, wait a minute!" cut in the twins, appearing around her like flies to meat. "If the boss is forcing the rest of the sing, you're gonna have to sing too. That's only fair."

She raised a skeptical eyebrow at the pair of them, who had their arms draped over the other while they were leaning over in her face.

Aria immediately put both of her hands on either of their faces and pushed them back, before separating them so she could pass through.

"Yeah, well life isn't fair, now is it?" she said, wading away from them.

The twins, however, were not going to give up so easily on the subject on her, as well as Haruhi, singing. The girls, in their own ways, refused to give in though.

"I am not gonna sing!" snapped Haruhi, desperately trying to swim away from them, but they impeded her progress. "Leave me alone, guys! There is no way in hell you're going to get me to sing!"

Thankfully, Haruhi's blatant and adamant refusal was more entertaining to the twins than Aria's so they were continuously harassing her with Tamaki.

"Ari-chan," said Honey. He swam over to Aria, who was sitting on the edge of the pool of the deep end with her feet dipped in. "You really don't want to sing?"

His big, light brown eyes looked put out at this. Aria chuckled, more out of nervousness that Honey was going to be able to get her to do karaoke. "Well, Honey-senpai," she said, waving her hands innocently. "I don't think I'm a very good singer. It'd be really embarrassing for me."

Honey stuck out his bottom lip. Aria was having a hard time resisting this face, as she always did. She looked desperately around for someone to rescue her.

Mori was off in the shallow end with a glazed over look; he wasn't paying much attention to all the commotion the twins and Tamaki were creating with Haruhi or the fact that Honey was about three seconds away from getting what he wanted.

"Kyo-chan! Kyo-chan!" whined Honey just as Kyoya was passing by to go to the bathroom. "Ari-chan doesn't want to sing at karaoke. Say something to change her mind!"

Aria stared wildly at Honey. He was using Kyoya to get to her….

_Honey-senpai__ is__ a__ lot__ more __clever __than __I__ would __have __guessed,_she thought darkly as Honey was grinning at her brightly.

Kyoya paused in his walking and only turned his head to look down at Aria. She froze under his near piercing gaze.

"I'm sure you're well aware of the consequences of not participating in the boat activities," he said dismissively. "…Reimbursement."

Aria immediately glowered at him, but she could see the humorous glint in his ash colored eyes. She couldn't bring herself to reply, aggravated that he still had no issue picking fights with her.

Finally, she groaned in defeat.

"Yay!" cried Honey, leaping up out of the water and hugging her around the neck. "Don't worry, we won't laugh at you."

Aria, however, was throwing daggers with her eyes at Kyoya, who was smirking widely at her.

"Se devo soffrire, quindi sarà," he said teasingly as he continued on to the bathroom. _(If__ I __must __suffer,__so __will __you.)_

"Lei è insopportabile!" she shouted after him, which caused him to laugh. _(You__'__re__ insufferable!)_

* * *

A few hours later, Tamaki was dragging both girls by the wrists down the ship's promenade towards the multipurpose room that was designated for karaoke. Haruhi was putting up quite a fuss, seeing that she was shouting at Tamaki to release her the entire way there…and Aria was completely mute, though an irritated expression seemed permanently plastered to her face.

She could not believe she was about to sing.

"We're here!" sang Tamaki, finally letting go of the girls.

The room was quite large, probably able to hold about a hundred or so occupants. There were couches, loveseats, chairs, and beanbags all across the floor around an elevated, makeshift stage. There were lights shining down on said stage to give it more prominence as the rest of the room was dark. There was also a very expensive, high-tech, and large looking karaoke system, one with the tv right by the mic so they could read the lyrics while singing.

"Come on!" shouted the twins, Hikaru grabbing Haruhi's hand and Kaoru grabbing Aria so they can yank them to the closest seats to the stage.

Tamaki didn't even bother to claim a seat. "I'll go first!" he exclaimed, racing up to the stage. "I already know what song to sing."

"Tamaki-senpai _would_ go first," Aria sighed, more to herself than to anyone. She settled herself down in a small couch, one that had an armrest so she could record and/or take pictures of everyone singing karaoke. The twins took a seat next to her in a large beanbag together, Kaoru curling up under Hikaru's arm.

Haruhi and Kyoya took the couch next to the twins, while Mori and Honey were in a love seat slightly behind Aria and the twins.

Tamaki barely scrolled through the list of songs before he tapped the mic to check if it was working. When it played back a noise, he grinned and cleared his throat.

"This song is entitled _Guilty__ Beauty __Love,__" _he said, reaching to press play for the music. The twins snorted at this but did not say anything else. Aria clicked the record button of the camcorder just as the music began.

Tamaki clearly was already entirely into the song, and it had only been literally eight seconds, as he closed his eyes and pulled out the mic to hold it closer to his lips.

_God's crime was to make someone as beautiful as I  
I can see the reflection of me in your eyes and it's no good  
My divine punishment is that the love I give will make your heart burst  
Nevertheless, I am in love with you so I should probably stop this…  
Guilty beauty love_

Aria felt herself stare in complete and utter astonishment. She had no idea that Tamaki could _actually_sing. She thought he was just going to make a fool of himself and be terrible. She glanced over at Haruhi, who was also had a blank look of surprise as Tamaki's random ability to sing. He had a lovely voice, one that suited the song perfectly.

Aria couldn't help but chuckle to herself as she zoomed in on Tamaki's face as he continued singing.

_Open the door and the dream world welcomes you  
I'll kneel and kiss your hand, and escort you  
A shy goddess only needs to turn around and find her lucky guy  
Don't get tired of love's healing ways but…_

_When I touch you, all the love I possess slips out, it's sin  
To snatch all of your heart is not wrong at all  
I only obey this infinite love, that is my curse  
Nevertheless, when you and I touched, that I should probably stop this...  
Guilty beauty love_

Aria wanted desperately to laugh, despite how great Tamaki's voice sounded. As much as it was a catchy song, what he was singing about was absolutely ridiculous. Clearly, Tamaki was full of himself, though it was purely innocent.

_So__conceited,_she thought, amused. She looked over, finding the twins giggling away, though drowned out by Tamaki's singing, because they thought the song was just as outrageous as she did. Aria's eyes went over to Kyoya, who had his fingers over his face in the remnants of a face palm.

_In the night, I'm like the moon, and always float towards you to embrace you, my burning sun  
We'll circle the earth, and radiate love even though it's forbidden  
I'll give you this loving bouquet, cutie lady  
Here is where you're always the heroine_

It was obvious who Tamaki's song was directed at…and that was not counting the fact that he was staring directly at Haruhi for the majority of the song…. The lyrics in itself were just off the charts in the egotistical category, as Tamaki seemingly thought very highly of himself and deserving of Haruhi's love.

Aria sighed. Why the hell was it so hard for those two to just tell each other how they feel?

_God's crime are these lips, can you feel this sweet kiss?  
As you dream and call out for me to do no wrong  
It's still my curse that I love, even if like a rainfall, I flood your heart  
Nevertheless, you and I are so captivated… so I should probably put an end to this…  
Guilty beauty heart_

And Tamaki's song ended with a last few strokes of a guitar. Immediately, Aria stopped recording so she could clap for Tamaki's wonderfully strange performance.

"Thank you, thank you!" he cried, obviously pleased with himself. He bowed before exiting the stage.

He went directly up to Haruhi. "What did you think, my little princess?" he asked, using his charming face. "Did daddy's singing impress you?"

Haruhi, who was speechless, jerked out of her trance and glared at him. "You're so vain…" she grumbled. "Your song was ridiculous."

At the statement, Tamaki fell to the floor at Kyoya and Haruhi's feet as if he was stabbed by something before he twitched at irregular intervals.

"…ri…dicu…lous?" he squeaked, his face so crestfallen that it was almost unrecognizable. "But that song was for my little girl…"

Aria rolled her eyes but smiled to herself.

The twins were laughing hysterically at the rejection Haruhi had given Tamaki and they stood up.

"Haruhi didn't like your song, boss," they said, sticking out their tongues.

"Probably cuz it was so weird," said Hikaru as Tamaki sat down on the couch next to Aria, curling into a ball in his emo corner.

Kaoru grinned. "So we'll just have to sing a song for her instead," he finished, though his eyes were not on Haruhi and were on Aria.

Aria looked away quickly, feeling very uncomfortable under his gaze.

The twins went up to the stage, Kaoru looking for the song through the system and Hikaru quickly setting up a second mic so they didn't have to share. Aria was a little apprehensive about what they could be singing, one because it was the twins…and two because Aria wouldn't put it past Kaoru to pick something with an underlying meaning to it.

They were ready within a minute.

"Our song is called _Bokura__ no __Love __Style!__" _they exclaimed in unison.

_Oh__god__…_thought Aria as she turned on the recording again.

The song started up with a guitar riff and a simple drum beat but it was pretty catchy. The twins seemed like they had this planned from the beginning because they were sort of dancing as if they had practiced it.

Hikaru lifted up the mic to his lips and stepped out a little further into the stage to show he was about to sing.

_Right in front of your eyes, I chatter with other girls.__  
__Oh no, no, no.__  
__I want you to show jealousy on purpose.__  
__Oh yes, yes, yes._

_My darling please, love is__  
__My darling please, something that__  
__Burns more intensely with a little injury._

Aria had to facepalm, having called the subject of their song within her head. Even still, as Kaoru brought his mic up to his lips and joined Hikaru at the front of stage to sing the chorus, Aria had to admit…the twins actually had some talent in the singing department. She had been thrown off guard again, just like she had been with Tamaki.

_This is our love style, _

_A love style that is the shape of our love._

_I need you, I want you…forever…_

She caught Kaoru's eyes fall onto her again at the last line that they sang and she felt herself grow hot. Aria tried not to let her irritation come up with him because she couldn't exactly prove that Kaoru was being overly blatant with his feelings or if he is just singing the song to sing it.

_This is our love style,_

_A love style that goes on wherever._

_You are mine, I am yours…forever. Only you. Love you._

Hikaru lowered his mic and backed off a little signaling that Kaoru was about to sing, while both of them danced in unison for the song.

_Perhaps I've gone to far, did I really make you mad this time?_

_Oh no, no, no._

_I'll hug it better, so let's make up._

_Oh yes, yes, yes._

_My darling please, this bond_

_My darling please, is something_

_Strong and deep enough to overcome your fears._

Aria had to tear her eyes away from Kaoru's, knowing that the entire verse was directed at her specifically. She wanted to strangle him.

She looked over at Kyoya, who now had his arms crossed; she couldn't tell what he was feeling because his face was so impassive.

_This is our love style,_

_A love style that perseveres on._

_I need you, I want you…forever…_

_This is our love style, _

_A love style that goes on wherever._

_You are mine, I am yours…forever. Only you. Love you._

They finished their song with a little dance move before the rest of the group clapped in their appreciation, though Aria's was a little forced because she was struggling to keep her irritation under control.

Kaoru was being bold…or was she just taking this out of context….? She didn't know.

"Takashi! Takashi!" said Honey from behind her. "You sing! Sing for us!"

Mori's face was so emotionless that Aria honestly couldn't tell if he what he was feeling about the idea of singing. Thus far, he seemed indifferent…as if it wasn't even a minor annoyance to him.

The upperclassman rose to a stand after grunting, "Okay…" He walked towards the karaoke system and looked through the songs. Aria caught Haruhi's glance and understood the meaning of it; both girls were really curious as to what Mori was going to sing…especially since he rarely ever talked…so to sing an entire song?

Surely the apocalypse was coming.

"_Itsumo__ Soba __Ni,__" _he stated simply and picking up the mic off the stand. Aria quickly made sure she was recording, not wanting to miss this rare opportunity to see him sing.

_Always __by __your __side__…__?_She was surprised with the song title choice…it sounded like it would be a love song. But then again, it could be something else.

The song started with a very simple melody of an acoustic guitar before he raised the mic to his lips.

_Without saying anything, I'm right by your side at anytime._

_Gently tell me your sad thoughts because I'm listening._

_If my inability to express things well troubles you, _

_Then close your eyes and gently entrust me because I'll embrace you._

_Within the passing seasons, now there is one certain thing inside my chest._

This by far was the most shocking thus far for Aria. Mori's deep tenor of singing, though not absolutely perfect, was very beautiful. It was soothing and the lyrics of the song were incredibly moving already and he didn't even sing the chorus yet.

_If it's to protect you, then I won't regret a thing._

_Because I'll take the pain in your stead._

_I'll always be by your side._

Aria felt her eyes brim with tears. She couldn't even breathe as she stared at Mori singing with such passion with a violin and gentle drums in the background to support his voice. Though this song was more than likely romantic at its base…she could see how this song was directed to Honey in a way. Aria already knew, just by inferring, that Mori and Honey really cared about each other.

_Because when I learn that I didn't realize your feelings._

_I want to send you everything I can do in my power. _

_I match my pace with you all the time because I still have an unchanging thought._

_So that the warmth of when we embraced won't ever disappear._

_I'll wipe away your spilling tears._

_I'll always be by your side._

There was a break in the song where he did sing but there was a part of violins playing that wrenched at Aria's heart, making tears spill faster from her eyes. She just couldn't believe the depth of the song of someone who very rarely said anything.

_If it's to protect you, then I won't regret a thing._

_Because I'll take the pain in your stead._

_I'll always be by your side._

_So that the warmth of when we embraced won't ever disappear._

_I'll wipe away your spilling tears._

_I'll always be by your side._

And then the song was over. Aria clapped the most for Mori, as well as the rest of the group, surprised by his voice. Honey, Tamaki, and the twins were upon Mori like flies to meat before he was even off the stage asking him how come he never told anyone he could sing so well but Mori just sort of stared blankly at everyone.

Aria looked around and felt a little foolish for having cried like she had because she was the only one.

Kyoya found her crying rather endearing as he watched her go up to Mori with tears still brimming her eyes. Mori smiled at her when she told him he had done amazing, before reaching out and ruffling her hair with his hand.

"My turn, my turn!" cried Honey once the commotion was over. "My song is called _Doki __Doki __Waku __Waku!__"_

Everyone barely had enough time to sit down because the song was already starting with a really upbeat sound. Aria laughed because Honey was jumping around with Usa-chan in his hand with the mic in the other.

_It's always fun when there are fun things waiting for you!_

_I found something cute! I really want it!_

_Even in forests, even in water_

_It's fun to chase after them, no matter where!_

_I'll break through any barriers blocking my way and gently throw them off!_

Honey's song practically depicted his personality to a tee. Aria thought his cute, little voice was so adorable as he sang his heart out.

_Exploring with Usa-chan! Search for the treasure chest!_

_Off to an island of dreams so we can be excited!_

_Exploring with Takashi too! So everything will be fine!_

_Let's depart on a journey so that we can be cheerful!_

_Heart-pound._

_Happy things have come on the days I had a megaton rank smile!_

_When you're feeling down , I'll divide some of that "happy" and give it to you!_

_With a wave of a magic staff, Usa-chan transforms into Kuma-chan!_

_But Tama-chan's Kuma-chan is all like "T_T", he's not cute at all…_

Aria laughed at the impression of Tamaki's annoyed face that Honey did while he sang. She struggled not to bounce up and down to the song because she had the camera in her hand, wanting to keep it steady to use the film later.

_Exploring with everyone! Search for the treasure chest!_

_Off to an island of dreams so we can be excited!_

_Exploring, we're always together! So everything will be fine!_

_Let's depart on a journey so that we can be cheerful!_

_Heart-pound._

Honey started to sing with only a bunch of "bah bah" noises for a moment while he threw up Usa-chan in the air. The background music was a little strange but really bubbly, which was perfect for Honey.

_Exploring with Usa-chan! Search for the treasure chest!_

_Off to an island of dreams so we can be excited!_

_Exploring with Takashi too! So everything will be fine!_

_Let's depart on a journey so that we can be cheerful!_

_Heart-pound._

_Exploring with everyone! Search for the treasure chest!_

_Off to an island of dreams so we can be excited!_

_Exploring, we're always together! So everything will be fine!_

_Let's depart on a journey so that we can be cheerful!_

_Heart-pound._

_Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, naaaahhh, tudo tudo tudo tudooo, takaa takaa taka takkaaaa, neao neao neao neao neaaaaaaooh!_

The room applauded for Honey once he was finished and he grinned brightly at everyone. He ran up to the camera that Aria was holding and put his face in the lens.

"Hope you liked it!" he said staring into the camera. "It was so much fun to sing! Usa-chan had fun too!

Aria laughed as he put his bunny up to the camera to wave before he skipped away back to Mori.

"Kyoya! It's your turn!" shouted Tamaki, pointing a long, pale finger at his best friend. "C'mon Kyoya! Let's hear you sing too!"

Kyoya threw one of the darkest death glares Aria had ever seen at Tamaki. Tamaki shrunk back into Aria for protection.

The VP stood up with the heaviest sigh, pushing up his glasses with two fingers. "I suppose I have no choice," he replied in a monotone. "Let's get this over with."

Aside from Mori, Aria had been the most curious about what Kyoya was going to sing. She hoped, no _prayed,_he wouldn't sing a sappy love song…and for whatever reason, she felt really nervous for him, as if she was going up on the stage to sing herself.

Even her stomach had butterflies in it.

Aria deduced that it was because she just didn't want Kyoya to make a fool of himself…because inadvertently, it could make a fool of her merely by association.

Kyoya took his time, leisurely looking for a song.

"This will have to do," he said apathetically, picking up the mic and pressing play for the music to start. Aria couldn't help but be completely rapt in what he was about to do.

"It's called _Tsumetai__ Yoru,__" _Kyoya said as the melody of a slow song started, one with a few keys of a piano.

_Cold __Night__…_mused Aria. _Interesting__…__I__ wonder __what __he__'__s __gonna __sing__ about._

Kyoya lifted up the mic to his lips and shut his eyes.

_Illuminated by the cold night's moonlight,  
I hid in the shadows projected by the town_

_Thinking there was not a single thing  
left to believe in,  
Among the crowds coming and going  
in the monochrome world,  
I bowed my head_

There was something about his song choice…something that caused Aria's heart to twist with a sort of strange pain. The lyrics…about having nothing to believe in caught her off guard. From the beginning, she didn't know what type of song would have suited him, if any, but hearing him sing this…was heart wrenching.

Kyoya didn't necessarily have a beautiful voice, not like Mori's or Tamaki's…but he sang with the same passion…the same feeling as Mori, moving her to tears again. That aside, the fact that the song was slow and had a melancholic feel to it was not helping.

_I realized, from your words  
The single flower nestled against my feet_

_As if to insist  
that I'm not afraid  
even if I lose,  
I walked forward…_

He finished the chorus and there was a break in his singing, one where he opened his eyes and looked directly to Aria to sing the next verse. Immediately, her face went red at gaze he held for her.

_With only silence  
filling my heart,  
I have lived until now  
never knowing desire_

_Not even understanding  
the meaning of doubt anymore,  
Feeling righteousness  
in the distorting town,  
I was simply swept along, but_

_I realized  
from your words,  
The single flower  
nestled against my feet_

_Even if I insist  
that I'm not afraid  
of losing,  
Time will go on…_

Aria's tears were overflowing as he repeated the chorus once more. The depth in the song, because it wasn't necessarily about love, was overwhelming. She had known for some time now that Kyoya was a much deeper person than when she originally met him.

In the beginning, she thought merit and wealth was all that mattered to him. But she had him all wrong…he was just an unhappy person for so long, having lived in the shadows of his brothers and father.

She came to a sudden realization.

The reason why Kyoya has taken part in something as ridiculous as a Host Club is because being in the club gives him a chance to be himself. Around the rest of the Ootori family…he is supposed to the quiet, obedient…traditional.

But in the Host Club, he can be whoever he wants to be…and having someone like Tamaki as a best friend, someone who brings out the best in people without having to try, helps Kyoya to take matters of his birthright into his own hands.

Aria turned to look at Tamaki, who was beaming up at Kyoya with his bright, blue-violet eyes.

Kyoya barely waited for the music to end before he set down the mic and went back to his seat. Everyone knew better than to comment or overly congratulate him on his singing, so everyone just applauded him and left it at that.

Tamaki rose to a stand.

"Which one of you wants to go next!" he cried, moving his head back and forth between Aria and Haruhi.

"I'm not singing," said Haruhi flatly. The twins whined along with Tamaki. "No."

"But everyone else did, and some of us didn't want to sing!" said the twins.

"That's a lie," said Haruhi, eying them. "You two had every intention of singing."

Aria sighed. She couldn't believe what was about to come out of her mouth.

"I'll go…" she grumbled, rising to a stand. "I might as well just do it."

She handed the camera to Tamaki, making sure she didn't mention how to record anything…but she figured Tamaki would figure it out. She would have given it to Kyoya but she was trying to avoid all possibility of her singing be captured forever.

Aria trudged up to the stage and looked at the screen to find a list of songs. It had categories of languages and she picked English instead of Japanese. She wasn't confident enough in singing in English or Italian…so there was no way they'd catch her attempting to sing in Japanese.

There were hundreds of artists to choose from and she had no idea what she wanted to sing. She sighed, realizing everyone was waiting impatiently for her to begin, especially the twins, who had scooted their beanbag right up to the stage to stare avidly at her.

She passed by the category of Josh Groban and paused for a moment.

Aria tapped the touchscreen to bring up a list of songs by the American singer and she suddenly realized what she was going to sing.

There was a song that Aria had used in a slideshow at Angel's funeral by Josh Groban. She guessed she could sing it.

Within a minute, she found the song.

"Uhh," she said lamely, looking out into the shaded darkness before her. The lights that shined down on her blocked out the majority of everyone staring at her, which was grateful for because if she saw Kyoya or the twins staring at her, she would lose her nerve and not sing at all.

Her heart was pounding in her chest from her nervousness. Speaking in front of people was no problem for her…but singing?

"This song is called _To __Where__ You__ Are._It's…a tribute song for someone I loved who passed away a few years ago," Aria explained before pressing play. She vaguely regretted picking this song because Josh Groban was known to have a beautiful voice and sang in all types of range. Aria was fairly sure she was going to butcher this beautiful song but there was nothing she could do about it.

The song started with a very slow few keys of a piano. Aria swallowed and reigned in her nerves as she lifted the mic, which felt like a thousand pounds at the moment, to her lips.

_Who can say for certain? Maybe you're still here._

_I feel you all around me, your memory so clear._

_Deep in the stillness, I can hear you speak._

_You're still an inspiration._

_Can it be…_

…_that you are my forever love?_

_And you are watching over me from up above?_

_Fly me up to where you are, beyond the distance stars._

_I wish upon tonight to see you smile…_

_If only for a while to know you're there._

_A breath away is not far to where you are…._

There was a pause in the lyrics, giving Aria just enough time to inhale heavily for the next verse. She wondered what everyone was thinking as she sang, knowing she probably sounded ludicrous for singing such a slow song.

_Are you gently sleeping here inside my dreams?_

_And isn't faith believing all power can't be seen?_

_As my heart holds you, just one beat away._

_I cherish all you gave me everyday._

'_Cause you are my forever love._

_Watching me from up above._

_And I believe that angels breathe_

_And that love will live on and never leave._

The part where the song has far more passion was just about to come and Aria was already emotionally spent…. But singing this song…which was about Angel and how much Aria really missed her, was not helping her at all. More tears were coming to her eyes, stinging them painfully. And the piano playing in the background, an instrument she always loved, was making it harder for her to keep her cool while singing.

_Fly me up to where you are, beyond the distance stars._

_I wish upon tonight to see you smile…_

_If only for a while to know you're there. _

_A breath away is not far to where you are._

_I know you're there…_

_A breath away is not far to where you are…_

She drew out the last word and the song ended…but by this time, the tears had broken past the dam in her heart. Why did she pick this song?

Aria had no idea what anyone's reaction was to her now crying…and the only person who knew why was Kyoya.

"E-excuse me," she choked out, dropping the mic. It clattered loudly as she dashed out of the room, avoiding the looks of worry everyone was giving her.

…she never really dealt with the loss of Angel…and it seemed like it was coming back to haunt her.

* * *

**AN: so yes, that was their character songs in English (that's for anyone who hasn't heard the Ouran character songs). I highly suggest listening to them. They're all really awesome. :) My favorite is probably the twins' song. Or Tamaki's... despite how retarded Tamaki's song is. hahahhah **

**Um, also, if your really that interested, you should look up Aria's song. It's incredibly moving and sad. So...yeah, if you listen to it you'll know why she started crying so much. Anyways! Until next time!**


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